Computer History

The year was 1994 and a young man was a senior at Middleton High School. Sitting at home was a brand new computer whose main thrill was able to navigate a solid yellow line around a square without running into a patterned yellow line that was trying to pin him in. The game was TRON and I loved it. The computer at home was also a huge asset in cranking out last minute papers for English Literature and Physics classes on the speedy dot matrix printer.

Upon leaving for college the computer stayed at home and I returned back to a life of computing at a lab or library station. During my freshman year at school there were three people who had computers in their room on my entire floor of approximately 50 people. By the end of my time at college 5 years later I lived in a house with 4 other people and 3 of us had computers. By this time it was already common to be hooked up to the Internet at home and use the computer as a resource tool for school.

The computer I had when I was finishing school drastically changed the way we operated. I was able to do so much more work because I was not restricted to the hours that a library was open, or I could take short breaks while I worked and not worry about not finding a spot when I returned. I was much more willing to do edits and change documents because it was so easy and the benefits were immediate in the quality of the work. Research was also much more available, we were no longer limited to was available in the libraries, or from the databases that were offered at campus workstations.

Beyond school work the computer and access to the Internet opened up so much content of the world. I still remember when people first began talking about Napster and being able to access so much music for free and to be able to hear artists and songs without having to purchase a CD.

We really just were amazed at how easy it was to find information on any subject you were interested in. It is hard to believe that we all take it for granted today, and it was not that long ago that I had a 15-20 minute walk to get computer access. It just makes me wonder where we'll be in another 10-15 years?

Course in Review

I have to admit, I enjoyed the beginning weeks of the class more than the last two. The first weeks were all filled with new toys to play with, Diigo, Empressr, Zoho, Nettrecker, Spreadsheets, etc.. This was great fun and I was entertaining myself, and even sometimes my students with new tools and ways we could use them in class.

The last two weeks were not nearly as fun, but now in writing this I'm kicking myself because without the last two weeks the first few are wasted. The technology implementation plan, the technology integration strategies, as well as the final chapters in the book on supporting students creativity and production were really the meat of the class.

I know I've mentioned this at other times in my blog, but I'm a little frustrated in starting this program in the Spring, when time is of the essence, patterns have already been established and kids start peeking at summer break. It is hard to get these new ideas into the fold. I too have begun to look to summer, not as a break, but as an opportunity to reshape the structure of my class and to find ways to blend in what we have learned so far in the program.

Next year to do list includes:
1. Get all the kids on Google Docs
2. Diigo groups to share notes/sites for class
3. Getting rid of paper assignments
4. Real/Regular collaboration on class assignments
5. Target student technological independence by year's end

Some of these will be easy, but others are going to require some long term strategies that I think our discussions, assignments, and readings have helped develop.

Just a quick observation, entirely unintentionally, my to do list has mirrored my impression of the class, toys at the front, meat at the end.

Week 5 Blog - How have I changed as a result of ....

There have been a few effects that have really made an impression on me and are starting to show an immediate impact on my class. The biggest impact on me has also had the biggest downside on my class. I'm sure we are all right up against it, in terms of the end of quarters and years and all the curriculum we want to cover. So of course what I have been really trying to stress is the process that is necessary to go through to set up my kids to have success in developing creative solutions and making sure that when technology is implemented with the curriculum it is done so with a clear and definite purpose, rather than just for the fun of it. I have been pretty good in making sure technology has a role in my past lessons, but now I'm just more mindful.

For the processes that is a big change for me. I'm a pretty free and easy teacher and try to give the students a lot of leeway in making their own decisions and choosing their consequences. As a result of this mindset in the past I have set the goal, identified potential tools, and sources and have let the kids go to work. I'm embarrassed to say it out loud, but then I was always surprised when the kids didn't live up to my expectations. I know part of this is that I teach 7th graders and some of them will always choose the path of least resistance and do the minimum, but I also know that I teach 7th graders who need the process laid out for them more than I was and require more guidance in some of these areas that are new for them.

Now for me is the balancing act, I will always believe that even 7th graders need to have some independence and experience making their own good and bad decisions when it comes to their learning. Since taking this class, though, I do realize my responsibility to put them in better positions and give them a perspective on their decisions. I know some of my kids are just intrinsically more creative than others, but by giving them a clearer look at where they are going and the road map I can get more kids to feel safe to take some of the risks that come with creativity.

The downside is, I was barely making it before these new revelations. Next year of course this can all be built in right from the beginning, but it is going to make the pace for the end of the year pick up even more than it normally would.

A Walk Through History - In Time Video

The lesson that I looked at for this week from the In Time website was a history lesson that was used as a year end review. What was created at the end of the year was a video that featured three segments, one that showed the time period using a film, a second that connected the time period to local history, and a third that showed what the students did across all areas of instruction to reflect what they as middle school students had learned about the time period. I was really excited to see the product that these students were able to create and I immediately began to think of ways that this could be connected to my geography course.

What came to mind was a world map, the students could use GoogleEarth as their organizer. As a person would move around the map at each location they would find a student resource that could serve as an example of what we did at the middle school and how we could connect ourselves with all the corners of the globe. I imagined students playing pieces from the orchestra classes that would be shown by geographical locations of the composer and allowing the visitor to compare regional styles of compositions. Literature would also be an excellent way for the English classes to get involved to do character studies on their books from around the globe. There are so many options, I only wish I had been given this spark at the beginning of the year so I could organize all my teamates and have the video collections grow up over the course of the year.

Finally at my school the students do a student led conference during the 3rd/4th quarter, I really think this would make a great piece for the students to demonstrate their knowledge as well as the collective knowledge of the group. That is exciting to me.