Narrative Inquiry Julia Leong
View more documents from Julia Leong.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Narrative Inquiry
"trying to slow my thinking down. learn to practice reflection and meditation... "
thoughts I am having as I listen to Julia Leong at BLC09. Teacher Identity?? What are your beliefs about learning... points of view come out in everything we do as teachers. Make sense of our own lives using visual literacy, explore the difference between storytelling and narrative inquiry and investigate using digital images and critical reflection for journaling...
sample custom search engine
made this search engine for locating quality lesson plans a couple years back... and Alan November reminded me of this.... Wanted to document this now. Great tool to teach students and for teachers to use...
BUT... we need to teach how to search effectively and efficiently... and check validity.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Ideas for Google Docs in the classroom
Some interesting ideas that can help me with other ideas... a presentation by Tom Barrett. Thanks, Tom!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Edustat Reflection: The Nouns and Verbs of Reform
Edustat Reflection: The Nouns and Verbs of Reform
Shared via AddThis
This is an amazing summary/response to our experience at Edustat this week by Chad, an ACPS colleague.
Shared via AddThis
This is an amazing summary/response to our experience at Edustat this week by Chad, an ACPS colleague.
xTimeline
er working for an hour or so on this web app, I'm discouraged with the editing. It is cool (free) app, but not completely user friendly... especially with elementary students, I'm thinking. I could not find an easy way to organize the timeline in a different order. I tried using the time of the day to help with sorting... but it doesn't seem to sort like that. The exact time feature is also confusing... they don't have a zero in the numerals to choose and I never saw where the time appeared on the timeline, either. I can see this being fine for timelines of folks lives or major topics spread out over years... but I wanted more minutia and detail. It is cool that it is embeddable and easy to share. So... for my initial idea of a time line of the child's day... not sure if I'm digging it for this. I'd still use the Tom Snyder Timeliner software if available... you just can't share it as interactively on the web. ahhh... the trade-offs of technology!
BUT... the really cool part of this app is the ability to add video. So that part is a big plus. Back to my daily schedule... I could see little snippets of a movie, where the child says the time and explains the next part of their schedule and how it looks... now that would be totally cool... and then easily shared. so... thinking more... I'm over the editing frustration already!
XTimeline
After working for an hour or so on this web app, I'm discouraged with the editing. It is cool (free) app, but not completely user friendly... especially with elementary students, I'm thinking. I could not find an easy way to organize the timeline in a different order. I tried using the time of the day to help with sorting... but it doesn't seem to sort like that. The exact time feature is also confusing... they don't have a zero in the numerals to choose and I never saw where the time appeared on the timeline, either. I can see this being fine for timelines of folks lives or major topics spread out over years... but I wanted more minutia and detail. It is cool that it is embeddable and easy to share. So... for my initial idea of a time line of the child's day... not sure if I'm digging it for this. I'd still use the Tom Snyder Timeliner software if available... you just can't share it as interactively on the web. ahhh... the trade-offs of technology!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
A Summer Day
Today is the first summer day post Edustat conference. I have time to sit, reflect, drink my coffee, poke around at comments on SchoolNet, look back at #edustat on twitter, etc. Or... I can just think. I think I will take a refective pause and hopefully I can summerize my thoughts later this week or weekend. It is too soon.
Mid afternoon I will travel to a friend's house to watch the educational video, Intermediate Cafe in the Classroom: Helping Readers Thrive in Grades 3-6. This is the video that goes with the book, The Daily Five. I read this book about 4 summers ago and hope to re-read parts of it again, as I believe that many teachers will be faced with the challenge of teaching ALL of their children to read without any outside support this year. (the loss of lit specialist, resource folks, etc. will bring this model of differentiating and meeting the needs of all students in the forefront, again!) I look forward to collegial collaboration this afternoon. Learning with dear friends. Another cool thing is that one of my former students (and daughter of dear friend and former classroom collaborating teacher) will be with us. How cool, to be back with a former student in another capacity many years later. Very cool indeed. I look forward to learning today. Indeed, I love social learning.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
share this
Really need to figure this out. I know that I love having the sharethis button on things... but??? many questions. Going to take a chill break. UNPLUGGED for a while...
Edustat Converstations
Edustat begins today. I'm sharing out the links to my colleagues and principals in an effort to network. I will be blogging about Marco Torres keynote on Tuesday as well. This is a new endeavor for me as of right now, I'm still a private blogger.
So... I was asked this week, why do you blog, if no one is following you and no one is joining you in your posts. Great question! I am learning about blogging, reflecting on my job transitions, and using the blog to document what I am learning along the way. It is a journal, sort of like a diary... Certainly not everything I'm learning makes it here... as I don't have the time or energy, but... if I participate, I benefit, I learn, etc. I am trying to write posts that can one day be public, if someone is so inclined and interested to read. :)
wow.
Perkup with Web 2.0 Tools
This is from an amazing educator that I follow on twitter. Check it out...
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Wikis owned BY CHILDREN
Do these wikis exist? Can teachers let go? I love the comments made by my friend and colleague, Paula White in this blog posting... hmmm??? As an educator... working with teachers... I have just wished for parallel play! How sad.
Let's see what coaching will do for me and others... and hopefully change will land on the student's desk and ultimately in their teacher's "habits of mind".
about iPods in the classroom...
I've been thinking about ways to use iPods in the classroom...But I feel like Cathy from this comic strip right now!
Friday, July 17, 2009
My Philosophy Statement
Beliefs!
Education is dynamic...
I believe that education is a dynamic process within a community of learners. This dynamic process must involve a set of core skills that transcends all disciplines, standards, and cultures. This dynamic process must involve all learners, teachers and students, in both traditional and nontraditional educational environments. I believe the core skills for all learners must include, but are not limited to: assessing and analyzing information, problem-solving, making informed decisions and taking appropriate risks, abilities to adapt, willingness to learn from mistakes, communicating effectively, and enjoying the freedom to use imagination and to create.
Education requires engagement...
As an educator within the Albemarle County Professional Learning Community, I believe educators must engage all learners in a variety of experiences, both authentic and deliberate, to acquire and develop the core competencies. We must also guide and assist in the development of basic skills that enable all learners to have the foundations needed to grow exponentially and deeper. As educators, we must utilize and reflect on effective pedagogy and best practices, analyzing what is effective and striving to grow as a life-long learner. Adapting, collaborating and stretching should be the norm.
Education is ubiquitous and never-ending...
As educators, we must put forth thoughtful effort to provide strong learning environments. l believe that pertinent educational growth takes place where curiosity, questioning and imagination are encouraged within the environment. However, I also recognize that creative and innovative ideas often happen within environments where necessities arise. Educators that offer relevant and rigorous experiences, within any environment, that develop critical thinking skills, while providing security, love and mutual respect, will bring forth citizens that leave a positive imprint on the world.
what can we say about this bird?
How could a photo like this be used with children for critical thinking?
tossing out and moving on
Just want to say that I have sought counseling this week from numerous friends as I attempt to packup my 25 years of SHTUFF (a hybrid word of mine with specific meaning!). So... Bon says, you can find what you need online. Okay... I visualized myself throwing out files all week. I did throw quite a bit out... and then I managed to give some novel unit ideas and QRI stuff to some summer school teachers. Today... I must move forward and toss more and pack more. I have to go thru old CDS and technology stuff. Software manuals, probeware, proscope, DVDs and CDs... how-tos. How does one determine what is too old and what can still work? Ugh! I'm on my way... visualizing... I can DO this!
AH!... But wait.. look at this amazing resource that I re-found in my hard copy files earlier this week. Amazing questions... (and my collaborative team working on critical thinking DID find it on the web!) I have hope. http://www.pbs.org/teacherline/resources/questionsheet_vma.pdf?cc=tlredir
notes for jamstudio
(from a colleague in online course...) That's a good start Janelle. Here are a few tips that will help make it a little easier to create a strong song.
1- Keep it simple.
2- Try sticking with only 3 or 4 chords at first. You can repeat chords if you wish.
3- The majority of pop songs are grouped in measures of 4, 12, 16. Start with 4 measures and try looping that first.
4- In the section marked "chords", you'll have better luck if you stick with the chords in the column on the left in the beginning. (See attachment)
5- If that same column says in the key of "G", your song may sound better if the progression ends with a G (although, this is not a firm rule).
6- Same as above but, beginning with the G chord.
7- Some tried and true progressions are....
C / Am / Dm / G or
G/ Em/ C/ D or
G/ D/ Am/ D/ G/ D/ C/ G
All of the above is just a place to start so feel free to experiment.
I hope that helps.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Beach Daze slide
ha... knocked out two things tonight... a digital thank you and the project needed for my class. whew...
BUT... I need to sleep! Enjoy...
BUT... I need to sleep! Enjoy...
Critical Thinking Assessment Wiki
We have worked 2 days in June and 2 days in July. This has been very difficult work and a lot of going round and round. We are quite an array of educators from ACPS, including.... High school, English, History, etc., middle school, elementary, engineering, lit specialists, artists, future coaches... data crunchers, DART leaders, etc. SO!! How could we come together on such an open-ended task! Well.... it's messy messy work. In fact, it was so messy in real life as well as on the wiki, that I spent all morning just cleaning up the wiki and making it NOT 27 pages long. The process has been amazing and hard and good and frustrating. We have all grown... we have all learned from each other... and we have far to go. Carry on... if I participate, I benefit. (but... I'm a tad overwhelmed with everything, too.) EDUSTAT is coming this weekend. (and I have still haven't blogged or mentioned anything about NECC last month (I have notes on Google docs) or the 10 day beach time with family at Nags Head... or summer school work this week, or final WES web page work, or packing up 25 years of teaching materials from my classroom, or the online UVA course I'm taking this summer, or the exciting opportunity I'm going to have in a couple of weeks at Alan November's BLC conference...
STOP! FOCUS on classwork right now! Digital storytelling it is... Animoto here I come!
Zoom-In Inquiry
The most amazing site that I looked at today while working on the Critical Assessment work for ACPS. We are working on a wiki that has Numeracy tasks, but we plan on adding more tasks that address other content areas. We will be using some of these! (looked at this with a wonderful colleague, Laurel G. from Red Hill)
Thursday, July 9, 2009
more on Creative Commons
Taking a class from UVA with Chris O'Neal as instructor. Learning more about CC is definitely one of my biggest needs...
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