Part I: Setting Sail on a New Voyage

Lori Menger, an amazing Reading teacher, has taken the time to document the Technology and Drama integration changes that have taken place at our school over the last school year.  With her permission, I am posting her paper here, since I feel others could benefit from her honesty, perspective and insight.

Setting Sail on a New Voyage
by Lori Menger

At the start of the 2007 school year, San Jose Episcopal Day School (SJEDS) set sail on a new course. That course was to integrate technology and drama directly into the curriculum. This paper is a reflection of the first year of this maiden voyage. Addressed will be :

• the reasons for change
• the initial plan
• a look at the successes and challenges
• followed by a revised plan for the upcoming school year.

Because this evaluation is reflective, quantifiable data in many instances was not available. This reflection is also from the perspective of a sixth grade reading teacher.

Meanings can vary with context so technology and drama integration will be defined. Technology integration will refer to using technology as a tool in teaching and learning in the content areas. This integration requires that technology is not taught in isolation as a means to learning technology, but rather is taught and learned as a part of instruction in the content areas.

Technology hardware used included:

• desktop computers
• AlphaSmart Neos®,
• laptops
• digital cameras
• MP3 players
• video cameras
• document cameras
• portable projectors.

Technology applications used included:

• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Power Point
• Audacity
• Windows Movie Maker
• Microsoft Photostory
• Voice Thread
• United Streaming
• Mixbook
• Animoto
• Flickr.

Drama integration refers to using the performing arts as a means to teach and learn in the content areas. Drama integration included; poetry performance, Readers Theater, writing and reading scripts, public speaking, dramatization, set making, story telling, and movie making.

The Impetus for Change

SJEDS could have stayed safely anchored in the “Bay of Status Quo”. By all measurements the school was successful and maintained an excellent reputation in the community. Parent and teacher satisfaction surveys were favorable and enrollment high.

So why consider a change of course? There were several reasons that prompted SJEDS to embark upon a different way of teaching.
The first prompt was a recommendation from SJEDS’s accrediting body, the Florida Council of Independent Schools (FCIS). Every five years an accreditation team performs an in-depth evaluation of the school. The last accreditation, in February of 2007, SJEDS received an excellent report, but there was room for improvement. The report recommended an increase in academic time and less time spent in resources. Students had resource classes in art, drama, computer, media, music, Spanish, Latin (sixth grade only) and physical education. Responses to a faculty survey mirrored this recommendation, where the teachers also requested more academic time.

The next factor for change involved a plan, already in existence, to increase technology instruction. Guided by a technology committee comprised of teachers and parents, SJEDS had been working toward comprehensive technology instruction that would ensure that students would leave SJEDS prepared, with 21st century literacy skills. Students had attended computer class one time per week, and the administration believed this was inadequate and that a different approach was needed. Technology would not be taught in isolation, but the skills obtained while being used as a tool for learning in the content areas. Additionally, teachers needed to become familiar and comfortable with technology to be able to integrate its use.

Using Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences (1999) and knowing that not all students have the same learning style, the administration believed that integrating technology and drama would provide another means for students to access information. This integration would also provide more opportunities to incorporate higher-level thinking activities outlined by Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy (date not given).

Another guiding factor was a belief that adequate instruction in fluency was lacking in the curriculum. According to Wolf (2006) fluency is the ability to read text accurately, quickly, and to use good expression so that time can be directed to understanding what is read. The instruction of reading should be balanced in the five areas outlined by the National Reading Panel (2002): phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Fluency was not being ignored, but was not being taught consistently and in the right balance across grade levels. The administration also believed these components should not be taught in isolation.
Laura Robb (2000), states that reading strategies should not be taught in isolation, and standing alone do not make a complete comprehension program. In addition to comprehension strategies, fluency and  vocabulary must be taught. Providing support in fluency and vocabulary instruction will positively impact comprehension.
According to Shanahan (2002), research found that fluency instruction improved reading no matter how it was measured. Not only did fluency itself improve, there was a positive impact on decoding, word recognition, silent-reading comprehension, and overall reading achievement. Shanahan (2002) identified three essential features of effective fluency instruction; oral reading as opposed to silent reading, reading repetition, and providing students with guidance or feedback.

The integration of technology and drama would provide more opportunities for these key features in instruction. The integration of technology and art forms, such as drama, into the curriculum was recognized as a way to bring engaging methods to learning and to help forge connections between the content areas.
Burnaford, et al (2001) states that, “Arts integration is a way of thinking about learning and teaching; it is not a formula, and it is not a strict structure that requires specific resources.”

Integrating drama into the curriculum would increase fluency instruction and achieve balanced literacy. Including drama activities such as poetry would help to bring about this balance.
Nile Stanley (2000) states,” Poetry can help you teach to a broader definition of “balanced literacy.”
The administration also wanted to move towards a more constructivist learning approach, centered on projects that promoted learning in the core subjects.

According to the Computer Supported Learning Center (date not given), Knowledge is not a fixed object; it is constructed by an individual through her own experience of that object. Constructivist approach to learning emphasizes authentic, challenging projects that include students, teachers and experts in the learning community.

Continue reading Part II: Charting the Plan

Day 13: Write a Blog Post Using Comments

Day 13: Write a Blog Post Using Comments

From what I’ve seen so far, during the past two weeks, most of us have expanded our commenting awareness in some amazing ways. We’ve discovered new blogs and are interacting more than we might have in the past, which is one of the great things that happens when we become more intentional about building community through commenting.

One thing I’ve noticed in reviewing people’s blogs is that many of us use our blogs for reflection and learning. Often we do this by responding to a blog post written by another blogger. But we can also do this based on comments.

For today’s task, we’re going to write a blog post that responds to comments. This can be a post that summarizes or reflects on comments we’ve received on our own blogs. I did a version of that here where I wrote a post that summarized reader suggestions for starting a career in a nonprofit. And here’s an example of a post I wrote responding to several comments I received related to a series I wrote on scarcity and abundance thinking. You could also write a post responding to a comment or comments you read at another blog.

This is a great way to keep conversations going because often people’s thoughts can get lost in the comments, but by you elevating them to a blog post, they get more attention and discussion. They also encourage you to reflect more deeply on the comments you receive–maybe allowing you to identify some trends in comments or to challenge something in your thought patterns.

After you write your post, be sure to tag it with “comment08.”

I have read with interest Andrew’s post 21st Century Teachers on Educational Origami. I starred it in my Google Reader and also copy and pasted the link with my initial thoughts into a draft post. That is the way, I help myself remember posts that I want to blog about later. Since I have been extremely busy with year end school stuff and trying to keep up with the Comment Challenge, I have not been able to get to writing this post as fast as I wanted to. The post is well written and organized and I encourage you to read in detail how Andrew spells out characteristics of the 21st Century Educator

Since the post was first published on May 12th, Andrew has received several comments that are worth to take a closer look at and to summarize.

All commenters agree on the changing roles of educators. Some of the commenters are trying to arrange the characteristics from the web above in order of importance:

21st Century teachers are 21st Century learners first

So, it seems that teacher and students of the 21st century are not too different, since BOTH are supposed to thrive to be learners. But a

key difference is that they (the 21st century teacher/educator) must also have a clear vision of the goals, objectives and end points he or she must reach.

Questions, such as what is being done to prepare pre-service teacher, are being asked.

Andrew responds to his comments with :

There is much written about the 21st century learner but very little written about the 21st century teacher who is meant to facilitate and enable all of this learning.
I have seen with my own students that they are very capable of learning and operating the tools, but they often lack the insight (not surprisingly) to apply these tools and technologies to learning.

As the teacher we need to focus on the ways these technology tools will enhance the LEARNING of our students. As the teacher of the teachers (through Professional development workshops and one-on-one time) we need to focus on the importance of how the tools affect learning, and not emphasis the way we can learn these tools.

As a result of the feedback he got on his post, Andrew updates by adding a new characteristics to his original one: The Leader

To continue the conversation and allow others to add and edit some of the points and ideas Andrew has created a wiki page .

Technorati Tags: comment08

Custom Google Search Engine

Yesterday, during our last technology professional development workshop of the year, I introduced a group of our elementary school faculty to the concept of a custom Google Search Engine. Everyone present was invited to be a collaborator and created (if they did not have one) or signed into their google account. I created a step-by-step tutorial for adding a URL to our custom search engine. We are also encouraging faculty to start adding sites through out the summer months, when planning for next school year.

Dear Faculty,

In an elementary school setting we are hesitant to go to a search engine, like Google or Yahoo, and simply type in a keyword or phrase in front of our class. You will receive millions of search results. It is a lottery to click on a link. You cannot be assured that the website you are about to display will be age- appropriate in text, graphics, videos, advertisement and content for your students. We also worry about our students when they are at home and needing research material for projects and homework assignments.

You are invited to collaborate in growing our very own San Jose Episcopal Day School Google SEARCH ENGINE. This search engine will be accessible for students by going to http://www….
Students will be typing in their search keywords and phrases and will receive ONLY results from websites that have been added by collaborators of the our faculty . By adding relevant and pre-selected websites to our custom search engine, you are aiding your students to focus on content for their research, rather than quantity of information. They will become more efficient web searchers in a safe environment.

Please follow the steps to add a URL (website address, that starts with http://) to our custom search engine.

1- Go to http://www.google.com and click on sign in

2- Type in your e-mail and password, then click “sign in”.

3- After you signed in, click on “more”

4- Then click on “even more”

5- Click on “Custom Search”

6- Click on “Manage your existing search engines

7- Click on “Control Panel”

8- Click on “Include sites”

9- Open up a new tab or window in your Internet browser.
Go to the website you would like to add to SJEDS Custom Search Engine. Highlight the URL (http://www …) and right click on the URL to then copy the address. You can also use CTRL-C on your keyboard to copy after the URL is highlighted. Go back to the search engine and right click into the text box, then choose paste. You can also use CTRL-V on your keyboard to paste the URL after you clicked in the text box. After the URL is visible in the text box click on the “save” button.

10- Congratulations! You just added a valuable site to our search engine!

Remember that this search engine will be only as useful as the sites that are contributed by the faculty. If you are planning for your students to research a certain topic or subject and want to give them a more directed research focus, be sure to add YOUR pre-selected sites to our search engine.

Added thought:

If you want to make adding a URL to your Google Search Engine even easier, you can add a Google Marker button to your FireFox or Internet Explorer toolbar. That will automatically launch a annotation window. You must be logged into your google account though.  I might install this on all our teachers’ computers.