"idk, my bff jill?"

During my last drive to Virginia, I spent some time catching up on long overdue podcasts, including Dr. Yong Zhao's keynote speech from the BLC 2007 Conference. He constructed an interesting analogy between the inventions of the printing press and the Internet, stating that the the printing press necessitated that the average person become a reader, and the Internet now necessitates that the average user become a writer. This is such a powerful statement for educators -- that as blogging, etc. continue to shape students' worlds, that writing (specifically, writing for an audience) will take on new meaning and relevance.

Of course, the idea of blogging changing the face of writing has its downsides, too -- the prevalence of texting and blogging has already changed the casual form of written English that is used by many students.

This form of written English has truly become a standard dialect with teens. Many of us squirm at the very thought -- how will students ever learn the difference between you're and your if they can just write "ur" and do away with the whole thing? How can the world possibly go on as it should when the masses are homophone-illiterate?

I wish I were more tolerant, but I am one of those grammatical elitists who has to fight an urge to scream every time an educated adult writes "she think's" or "their going." At the same time, I was actually a linguistics major who believed in the idea that languages should change over time, and that unnecessary grammatical constructions should be phased out over time. Does that mean that I must be willing to embrace the "l8r" generation's form of written language? I'm not sure I can stomach it!

Of course, the "l8r generation" got me thinking about something else I heard recently -- that as more and more non-native English speakers adopt English as their primary language, those of us who speak the American English "dialect" will actually become the minority. The outsiders. The people tied to a past when the U.S. presided over all. Meanwhile, the Chinese and Indian businessmen and women will adopt and develop their own simplified (and therefore more linguistically advanced, believe it or not) English. Those of us still complaining about subject-verb agreement will be wasting our time on obsolete, inconsequential details. Is it possible that those of us complaining about "ur" will be in the same boat?

Blackboard Exemplary Course Tour

I was recently chosen to record a tour of my Blackboard site for our local Exemplary Sites page, which highlights the "best" Blackboard sites in Central New York. I was very excited to get to do this, and pretty happy with how the final product came out. It is also a great resource to be able to view other outstanding tours and see first-hand how different educators have used Blackboard. I have all kinds of new ideas on what to do next! Click here to listen to my tour...and please, let me know what you think!

Creative Writing Prompts

Taken from Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future

• Using blank (i.e. no captions) cartoons, create your own humorous captions for the cartoons;
  
• Write a story based on only a title, picture, or title/picture combo, i.e. "The Octopus's Sneakers" (think Chris Van Allsburg's The Mysteries of Harris Burdick);
• Respond to real-life challenges, such as convincing a teacher to let you make up a missed assignment, or going to your first middle school party and not knowing anyone in the room;
• Write a mini-saga: an exactly 50-word story with a beginning, middle, and end;
• "Riff on opening lines" -- use powerful opening line prompts to write a new story, for example, "Call me Ishmael";
• Play "Who are these people?" -- make up stories for the people in line at the bus stop, buying lottery tickets, etc.
  

A Three Dog Life

An excerpt from A Three Dog Life, by Abigail Thomas, on the wisdom of dogs:

"I watch my dogs. They throw themselves into everything they do; even their sleeping is wholehearted. They aren't waiting for a better tomorrow, or looking back at their glory days. Following their example, I'm trying to stick to the present."

War on Technology?

For the past few weeks, I have been in a fight with technology. It all started when I somehow mangled my RSS feed for this blog. It was my fault, really. I had been working at the computer for too long and was letting myself get frustrated with some of the tics on FeedBurner. A few rage-infused clicks of the delete button, and my blog info was lost in RSS purgatory. I shut down my computer for most of the day, only using it to check e-mail periodically. For two weeks, I left my blog and the various errors within it to rot. I Xed out of Twitterific more often than I read my tweets. I ignored Google Reader and growled at my computer every chance I got. At school, I haphazardly deleted student blog posts for minor infractions of the rules. Not only that, but I changed my daily routine. I spent more time at the gym, went to bed earlier each night, and spent more time reading those books and professional magazines that had been stacking up for months. I was honestly having fun NOT being on speaking terms with technology, for once.

This is not without a little necessary caution, but finally, after two long weeks of estrangement, I am ready to make up. Being able to experience the position of a technophobe (relatively speaking) got me thinking about why so many people still shy away from technology. As an energetic young educator with a pretty big crush on my Mac and all things Web 2.0, I tend to secretly pass judgment on those who do not share my enthusiasm. I am a crusader for the importance of 21st century skill development in schools and am often dismayed at the seeming lack of support or interest in these vital skills. When I first read Karl Fisch's post, "Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?", my answer was pretty one-sided: no. I actually found myself cheering when I read this paragraph:

The Fischbowl: Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher? via kwout

But this past week, I was pleasantly surprised to hear from certain unexpected teachers about how happy they are that I am teaching technology skills in the library and how important it is for the students. I couldn't quite reconcile that with my earlier perspective, and started thinking about why this might be so. I came up with a few ideas:

1. There are plenty of truly important curricular areas that I personally have no desire to teach. This reluctance is not at all because I think they are of lower value than other subjects, but because I know I am not the best person for the job. Sure, I could learn what I need to know and do a passable job, but perceptive students would pick up on my lack of true enthusiasm and knowledge within seconds. It is the same with technophobic teachers. Do we really want to force them to embrace and teach technology when it just may never be their thing?
   
2. Maybe being a librarian has given me a leg up in this department -- I am not used to knowing the answers, I'm used to knowing where to find them! It is almost part of my job description not to answer students' questions, and instead to direct them in seeking the answers. I get tons of requests for information I know absolutely nothing about (even at the elementary level), and I have learned not to try to fake it. Teachers are different -- they are used to knowing all of the answers. They impart wisdom and knowledge on a daily basis, and they are very good at it. So it's not that the technophobes think technology is unimportant. But from their perspective, it is easy to forget that embracing technology does not, and in fact cannot, necessitate mastering technology. It is difficult for those who are accustomed to mastering content to view technology not as a content area, but as a tool.
3. In order to truly embrace technology, many teachers would have to actively let something else go. What should we tell them to abandon? Time with their families? Time for their own physical and mental health? Time helping students learn to read and write? I look to the teachers with 10 years experience as model teachers, but sometimes it's easy to forget that they were already contributing their energy and enthusiasm to projects I knew nothing about while I rolled my eyes in 10th grade French. In this one respect, I am "lucky" in that during my first year of teaching, I am living here in Central New York with little in the way of family, friends, or outside entertainment and have plenty of time to devote to this form of professional development. But should other teachers be punished because they actually have lives?
   

That being said, I'm still not ready to give up any ground. (When am I ever?) Fisch goes on to state:

"But then I think of our students, and the fact that they don't much care how much is on our plates. As I've said before, this is the only four years these students will have at our high school - they can't wait for us to figure it out."

My Favorite Christmas Present

I LOVE my Circus Puppet Theater from Restoration Hardware -- the students have so much fun using the puppets! Earlier in the year, I began using puppets with first graders to help them develop comprehension skills while listening to a story. Each puppet had a job to do -- asking a teacher question, making a prediction, summarizing the story, or acting out an important part of the story. Now, we are moving onto illustrator studies and need new jobs...luckily, I have these great new puppets!

Circus Puppet Theater via kwout

Podcasting

I am finally getting the hang of podcasting! For the first time, I actually have a student/teacher (i.e. me) collaboration that sounds good! So far, I am still doing most of the tech aspects, but I am hoping to get a group of 4th grade tech clubbers to start learning Audacity.


Let me know what you think!



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Internet Safety for Parents

What can you do to ensure that you and your children have a safe, positive Internet experience? As promised, here are some ideas and resources for parents.

1. First, and most importantly, discuss not just rules but guidelines with your children. Develop a household contract for Internet usage.

Rules tend to be of the “because I said so” variety and do not enable children to truly learn why they are necessary. Instead, work with your children to come up with a shared group of guidelines. Talk through the importance of each guideline. Turn them into a contract, with each member of the family signing off on them. Then post them right next to the computer for all to see. Check this website from NetSmartz to find Internet safety pledges your family can use.

The Internet safety pledges on the NetSmartz page are a great jumping off point for discussing protection from strangers, but don’t say much about protecting yourself even when you are talking to known friends. Many children and teens are using social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook to connect with friends, chat, and develop a sense of self. Social networking sites are great tools, when used appropriately; however, many children (and adults) don't consider or realize all of the effects of having a virtual "self." (If you are unfamiliar with social networking services, sign up for an account yourself, check out this Wikipedia page to learn more, or watch this quick video from Lee LeFever on the Common Craft Show:

2. Establish trust.

All children inevitably defy their parents at some point or another. For whatever reason, they just can’t believe that you have their best interests in mind. But when it comes to Internet safety, the danger becomes even greater if you have not already established a trusting relationship with your children. If their fear of losing their Internet privileges is greater than their fear of a danger they face on the Internet, they may not come to you to discuss it. At the first hint of trouble, your primary inclination will be to lock the computer away, and your child with it. Try to hold back. Remember, these kids are the information age, and no amount of locks and keys will keep them from using the Internet, so help your child solve their problem responsibly and be the adult they need.

From the beginning, let your children know that in order to use MySpace, Facebook, e-mail, instant messaging, Blogger, Twitter, Bebo, YouTube, Second Life, Webkinz, Flickr, or even Amazon, they will need to let you in on it. Set up the profiles together. Talk about password protection together. Let them know from the beginning that you do not want to invade their privacy, but if they don’t want mommy to see it, it isn’t happening. Keep your computer in a high-traffic area of your house, not in your child’s bedroom. As your child gets older, give him/her more privacy to explore personal issues, but develop that privacy slowly, and continue to discuss privacy issues with your child.

3. Really, truly, thoroughly discuss the notion of privacy on the Internet.

Children often post pictures, events, and other personal information to their profile pages, assuming they are private. These pages can be set to private so that only known friends can see the information, but children also need to know that any "friend" can copy and past the information to a public forum or distribute to a wider audience. In addition, children also befriend people they don't really know, thereby eliminating the whole notion of privacy. Be sure you talk to your children about this notion of privacy. Together, work through all of the advantages and disadvantages of posting certain types of information to the Internet. Allow them to work out for themselves exactly why they need to be careful, and guide them toward safe, appropriate behavior. We all know that a child's ability to reason something through to the end is simply not as well-developed as an adult's, and your children will be much more responsive to your guidelines if they understand the reasoning behind them!

4. Become a positive role model for your children. Do what they are doing, but do it better.

If your child is using Facebook, MySpace, IM, Twitter, e-mail, or anything else, you should be doing it too. You don’t need to spend all your free time checking your friends’ status updates, but play around with the tools enough that you feel confident discussing and using them with your child. If you don’t figure out how to use the tools appropriately and responsibly yourself, how can you expect your child to be more responsible than you are? Create a social network of parents and use it to model a positive social network. You will probably be surprised at what you can do with it!

5. Learn from your children.

Face it. Unless you are in the IT business, your kids know more about using the Internet than you will probably ever know. You are the digital immigrant, your children are digital natives, blah blah blah. If it were truly a language barrier, you would never just go about your life speaking a different language than your children and being unable to communicate with them. This is their mode of communication. This is their language. Learn it. Let them teach you what they are doing on the computers. It will help you learn, establish that all-important trust, and help them develop their skills!

6. Do your research. Google yourself. Google your kids. Pay attention.

Regularly keep track of your Internet presence. Go to www.google.com and search for your name in quotes. Add the name of the company you work for, a league you are in, or an organization you belong to. Do multiple searches to find information buried on the Web. Do the same for your children. Find out what is already out there on the Internet about you and your family, and monitor it regularly. Be the role model your children need.


7. Talk to me!

I don't claim to be a true expert on these issues, but I am certainly accessible. I use social networking sites, e-mail, IM, and other technologies regularly and would be glad to show you how I use them, what I use them for, and how you can set up your own accounts. Please, don't feel at all afraid to bother me. The worst thing you can do is to stay in the dark.

Internet Safety - Conversations with Parents

When you sign up to be a librarian, it's almost like signing the Hippocratic Oath of Information. Most of us believe fairly strongly in the Library Bill of Rights and in free access to information. So I was a bit worked up after attending a recent PTA meeting about the perils of the Internet. As a first-year librarian without any social capital, I really needed to gain the parents' trust and was in no position to disagree with a police officer, so I found myself stuck in a corner, biting my tongue.

Our PTA invited the local police officer to speak about Internet safety at tonight's meeting. Don't get me wrong, it was a very necessary conversation to have, but I wish it hadn't been so one-sided. The officer thoroughly covered the dangers children face when using the Internet -- knowingly or unknowingly divulging personal information to strangers, navigating to inappropriate sites, etc. But the answer proposed was secretly installing tracking software that allows you to view everything your child (and babysitter) posts. To each his own, but I find that terribly offensive and would use such a method only as a last resort. I understand that Officer Fuller is a police officer first and an educator second. As a result, she stresses prevention at any cost and sees the issues from that particular lens. But with something as important and ever-changing as the Internet, there will never be a quick fix. To suggest that parents can pass off all personal responsibility onto a software package is awfully short-sighted, considering the stakes. In addition, parents risk losing their children's trust as well as the important dialog that takes place when parents and children learn and develop Internet safety strategies together.

During this meeting, there was no real conversation about how to talk to your child about Internet safety, what to do to truly educate yourself, or how to positively learn and navigate your way through the Internet with your child. It was a lot to handle in one session to begin with, so maybe that's Part 2. I sure hope so. Because the conversation should never be about preventing your child from learning and exploring. The conversation needs to be about learning and exploring with your child in a meaningful, positive environment.

In addition, I learned that Internet safety education is conducted at the same time as drug and alcohol education for our 5th grade students. I'm not crazy about the message that the Internet is in the same hateful category as booze and cigarettes. The Web is their world. By the time they graduate high school, it will literally be everywhere. We are putting them at a severe disadvantage by equipping them only with the skills they will need to navigate the world we know, and ignoring what they will need for that world.

The whole meeting got me truly thinking about where a parent's responsibility lies. It is common for adults to talk about the ways their children misuse the Internet as if they themselves know better. But do they? Are they taking the steps to educate themselves as fully as they would like their children to be educated? Do they regularly conduct Internet searches on both themselves and their children? Do they experiment with Facebook, MySpace, and Webkinz themselves when their children ask to set up accounts? Have they attempted to get involved in a positive and appropriate social network to model for their children? And it goes even further: as an educator, I do what I can to teach students these vital 21st century skills. But have I been neglecting half of my duty by not also educating their parents?

The bottom line is this: you can't expect your kid to be more responsible about the Internet than you are yourself. Yes, you are a digital immigrant and that is a difficult position to be in. I get it. But it is your responsibility as a parent to at least TRY to speak the same language as your child. And I am here to help.

Now that I've gotten past being appalled, I would be remiss to rant without giving my own positive suggestions, so...coming soon: effective strategies parents can use to practice and preach Internet safety in their homes.

Book-to-Movie

I went to see The Golden Compass this past weekend. It was good, but didn't hold a candle to the book. One of the previews for the movie was Inkheart, also based on a great fantasy book. While I always end up just as excited about these movies as the 10-year-olds are, I am starting to get a little irritated about the sheer number of children's/YA books that are being turned into movies these days. If I loved the book (and chances are, I did), then I always see the movie too...and usually I even like the movie. But it bothers me when the entire New York Three Apples Book Award list is made up of books that have been turned into movies. Of course, the list is composed of student suggestions in the first place, and there is certainly a chance that some of these students ended up reading the books because they liked the movies. So maybe I am being pessimistic to assume that those students are few and far between, but it's discouraging when a whole class responds that they have not read the book, but the movie was really good!

Just FYI, the 3 Apples list for this year is below. How many are not popular movies?

• Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
  
• The BFG by Roald Dahl
  
• Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
  
• The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
  
• Eldest by Christopher Paolini
  
• Eragon by Christopher Paolini
  
• Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
  
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
  
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling
  
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling
  
• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
  
• Holes by Louis Sachar
  
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
  
• Matilda by Roald Dahl
  
• The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo