- Teaching with Primary Sources
- Blogging Communities in the Classroom
- Differentiating Instruction in Reading and Writing Using Readily-Accessible Technologies
- 21st Century Poetry Slam: Student Poetry Collaborations
- The Ripple Effect: 21st Century Innovations That Matter
- Technology and Differentiated Instruction
- Podcasting as the Curriculum: A New Paradigm
- Youth Media Programs for Developing Digital Literacies
- GIS, Google Maps and More for Literacy Projects
- Audio is Great! Video is Cool! iPods Can Do More!
- Digital Investigators: Using Digital Media for Project-Based Learning
In San Antonio I quickly reached a point of saturation, when I had too many cool new things to think about, when I could barely process any more new information. Several seasoned NECC attendees said I should pace myself by spending some time on the exhibition floor or by hanging out at the Bloggers' Cafe.
I was afraid to miss any workshop opportunities, though. Most of the presentations were of extremely high quality. Chris Shamburg, who wrote a book about using technology in the English classroom, taught one of my sessions. (I have a copy of his book; it's fantastic!) I was in a workshop that the creator of Google Lit Trips Jerome Burg also attended, and I spoke with him briefly afterward. I didn't realize until later that Will Richardson, whose blog I read, was the one who Ustreamed Konrad Glogowski's presentation just a few feet in front of me. AND, I am quite sure I saw David Warlick in the lobby of my hotel. I saw him and couldn't help but give him a huge grin and a jovial, "Good Morning!" Only later did I realize that the instant sense of familiarity I felt when I saw him was because I read his blog and admire him so. All that to prove that in San Antonio I walked among the giants of Ed Tech, and I was afraid to miss any opportunity to hear them speak.
So, I sat in every workshop I could, even if I was beyond thinking well, and I dutifully took pages of notes thinking that I might spend the rest of the summer reading through them and processing them as I am able. I chose workshops that seemed like they might be immediately useful to the work I am doing right now at SILSA. (I missed cool workshops on things like teaching and learning in Second Life because that's just so far ahead of where I am currently.) Even still, I don't know if six more weeks will be enough time study my notes and make sense of what I can incorporate in August.
On the plane I began a To Do list. I will continue to work on that here next time.
5 comments:
Hi Theda,
I'm honored that you consider me "one of the giants of Ed Tech!" I'm not sure I've ever been categorized as such before!
It was a great conference for sure. If there is any chance that you'll be back in San Antonio for the National Council of Teachers of English Conference in November, I'll be presenting there on GoogleLitTrips.
Take care,
Jerome
As I told you at NECC, I love your work! In my small, science-themed school, we are just beginning to learn how to use GIS and/or Google Earth to help with scientific research, like cataloging salamanders in the Great Smoky Mountains NP.
Google Lit Trips are such a gift to my students and me! I really appreciate the intersection of literature and scientific visualization. I also love that my students now have models of another way to communicate what they know with others.
Thanks again for your work!
Theda,
Check out two Google Lit Trips that Norah created for my Huckleberry Finn unit on my school website. She did a fantastic job! What an asset she is; I just said, "Hey Norah, can you do this, this and this?" and BAM, there it was! Go to the junior English page and select course documents on the left menu. The trips are in the Huck Finn folder.
Carey
Carey and Theda,
This is Jerome Burg of GoogleLItTrips... I'd sure like to see the Lit Trips you referenced for Huck Finn created by "Nora." Is there a way, I can get a look at them?
I've been wanting a Lit Trip on Huck Finn for the site, but have been discouraged by the difficulty in pinpointing some of the locations.
Jerome
Jerome,
I was inspired by a teacher from Michigan to create a multi-station experience for my students while reading Huck Finn. He created a low-tech multi-station activity he called "Flow Day." I really liked his idea, but I wanted to infuse it with technology. That's when the idea for the Huck Finn Lit Trip was born.
The Michigan teacher had an activity which required students to trace Huck & Jim's trip down the Mississippi, but there wasn't much to the activity besides looking at a map of the Mississippi River region. My idea for the trip wasn't to have my students find the clues in the novel, but for them to get a sense of the length of their trip, their bravery and the sheer expanse of a river that many of my students have only seen on TV.
I had to do quite a bit of research for the Huck & Jim Mississippi River trip. You're right, the locations are hard to pin down, and there's a lot of debate about where certain places really are, but we did as well as we could. In the end, I don't think it really matters if a place is not exactly right in this particular case. There's some tweaking I still want to do to the trip -I'd like to link some passages from the novel at the various points-before it's posted anywhere, but I'm happy to share. I'm sure Norah will be, too.
Another trip I asked Norah to create for me is one I used in the Huck Finn unit as a thematic link. I asked Norah to map the rivers in the Langston Hughes poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers." This turned out to be the best Lit Trip because it incorporates literature, geography, history, and science. She did a great job! It is so nice to have Norah on our team! All I had to do was say, "Here's the research, here are the links, here's what I want, please!"
The trips are on my teacher web page which is linked to the Asheville High School site. Also look for the think sheet I asked my students to work on while on the Trips. I forgot to mention that the trips are in the Flow Day folder within the Huck Finn folder. Please know that my projects are always works in progress. I am constantly editing to make them better. My last name is Matthews.
Carey
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