I read this article today, I Know What You Did in Your Math Class, which explores the use of HCPSLink, K12 Planet, and other versions of this tool used across the nation. The theme of this is that while it has its benefits, there are also negatives, mostly parents becoming overbearing and too nosey about their student’s grades. In fact, one professor suggested that this is leading to more cheating in the classroom.

I’d love to hear some parents from Henrico comment on your use of HCPSLink. I actually thought the article was way off base with comments from students like, “I don’t think kids have privacy,” said Emily Tarantino, 13, a middle-school student from Farmingdale, N.Y. “It’s not like anyone asked our opinion before they gave parents the passwords.”

Huh? She’s 13, why does she expect any privacy at all?

It’s a fairly typical criticism of most technology though. Some parents misuse the technology, so obviously, it’s the fault of the technology, not the parent.

But this article seemed to not only blame the technology, but to also blame the parents for being, uh, parental.

In the blogosphere, Daniel Pink’s book, “A Whole New Mind,” has become popular for its right brained view of the world which seems to match a lot of what the learning 2.0 world is promoting along with 21st Century Skills.

Pink’s new book is called, “The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need.”

Right away you can tell this isn’t a normal book. First, it’s written using manga which is popular in Japan and used in fiction, history books, and other types of books. Second, it’s short. You can probably read it in 45 minutes. Last, you can see the trailer for the book here (how many books have a trailer?).
Johnny Bunko trailer from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.

There are many reasons I believe a book like this should be read by high school students.

First, the advice in the book is invaluable. This is the 21st Century version of “What Color is Your Parachute?” Basically, Johnny Bunko is a young drone in a company called Boggs Corp. He’s done what he was supposed to in life, and now finds himself where he was supposed to be, but bored. So, he gets help from a friendly pixie that offers him 6 pieces of advice which can be found on the website, johnnybunko.com.

Second, it has a website. Why not have students read books that also have a website and its own Facebook group? More and more, students today want to interact with their entertainment. So why not have them read books where they can interact with other readers from around the world, interact with the author, and learn from the author?

I’m sure after every book goes to print, the author would like to add more. With the book on a blog, the author can while interacting with your students. Even I got mentioned on his blog for asking a question.

I do wonder how long this website will last? If students read this book three years from now, will the site still be updated?

Last, because the book is short and gives 6 pieces of advice, e.g., “It’s not about you,” the book is open for discussion. Many advice books tell you how it is (which is why they are long and boring), but this book allows people to explore each idea and see how it relates to them. A good teacher can have many classes of open discussion with this book, making it much more student-centered than most other books.

So, read the book and see how it might be used in your business class, English class, or in any class where you’d like your students to read about a real world issue and have a good discussion.

In another example of enhancing student discussions in the classroom, Mrs. Quash created a discussion board forum for her Chemistry kids discussing Fuels and Energy Sources.  The students were supposed to respond to an original question, and then respond to other students.

In one class alone, she had over 120 comments.  I can guarantee that if Mrs. Quash simply asked her kids the question in class, she wouldn’t get 120 comments.

Of course, now, she has 120 comments to read.

Recently, Mr. Apelt’s AP Environmental Science class had a class discussion about biofuels for about 30 minutes.  Normally, most classroom discussions don’t last 30 minutes.  Most discussions are very brief and only involve a few students.  More organized discussions can go on longer, but then, the topic usually shifts and you still don’t have 100% participation.

This was different because Mr. Apelt used the chat room feature of SchoolSpace, or new Learning Management System.

Mr. Apelt changed the standard “FISHBOWL” discussion to one that was more technology oriented.  In a “FISHBOWL,”  you have two groups of students: an inner circle and an outer circle.  The inner circle consists of about 6-10 students, half of which come prepared with questions to discuss.  The other half of the inner circle know that their job is to “discuss.”

So, the inner circle has a full discussion on the topic and the teacher monitors their discussion.

Meanwhile, the outer circle has their own conversation.  They use a chat room to carry on the same conversation.  Here, they can reference the inner circle, or ask each other questions.  This is a full blown conversation held by 25 students.

There were some issues to get over, for example, the chat room conversation was very fast, so students had to figure out how to slow it down.  Plus, it was hard for the outer circle to concentrate on both the inner and outer conversations.

However, the class felt it was very valuable and was able to carry on the conversation with a discussion board they found on the web that involved students from other nations.

Ideally, a teacher would conduct a “FISHBOWL” like this a number of times to give each student the experience of being in the inner and outer circle.

In the student-centered environment that we are trying to create here, this is a great way for students to lead the conversation and go in-depth in a topic, something doesn’t always happen in a classroom.

One of the important skills we want students to learn while at Henrico High School is collaboration and communication. Both are important skills in the work force. Today, Ms. Miranda’s Spanish 6 students were able to do both by teleconferencing with 8th grade Moody students in a simple discussion drill.

Moody students asked the Spanish 6 students questions in Spanish, and the 12th graders had to respond quickly without knowing what the question was going to be. The Spanish 6 students then asked a question to the other student, but an easier question.

Students who were waiting their turn answered questions found here, and could also talk to each other through the blog by replying directly to other students.

This little video is a good example of what today’s students do, and want from their education:


FreeVideoCoding.com

I visited Ms. Nelson’s math class the other day to watch her students learn Geometry with a hands on program we have on the laptops called Sketchpad. It’s a program that allows students to draw geographic shapes and then use formulas (drawing back on their algebra skills) to analyze angles and lines to either find answers or, many times, find the formula themselves.

Many of the students told me they like to use this for many reasons. First, it’s hands on and it’s something they can do alone or with a partner. Second, it makes them think for themselves. This allows them to go through the process of trial and error before they get the correct answer. This is how students learn best. Third, which is tied to the second reason, manipulating geometric shapes like this on paper would be nearly impossible. This could only be done on the laptop with this program.

Sketchpad is a great example of how instruction is the primary goal of the program, but the technology helps make it easier. Last, it’s also a real world tool for students who might plan on pursuing math in college and as a career.

Students in Mrs. Cappellanti’s class and Mr. Hollowell’s English classes are researching a career they are interested in after high school or college.

Normally, this assignment is given as a typical research paper where kids turn in a 10-15 page paper.  This time, they’re doing the same research but creating a wikipage, like Wikipedia, on their paper.

This will allow them to incorporate audio, video, pictures, and links to the Internet.  Today, high school graduates need to understand how to use multimedia in their presentations and this is a great way to teach them 21st Century skills along with possible career choices.

Once the students are done in April, I’ll post the links for everyone to see.  Right now, it’s private so that only the students can log into the wikipage.  This helps prevent people from vandalizing other people’s pages.

But if you have a 12th grade student in Mrs. Cappellanti’s or Mr. Hollowell’s class, ask them to see the site.

More and more, students are getting their own computers along with the laptops they get from the county.  Some can be very inexpensive, but then the software you need drives up the price.

There are some very good free versions, all are downloadable from the web:

• http://www.thinkfree.com/common/main.tfo
• http://www.openoffice.org/
• Google Docs

Check these out before you pay hundreds of dollars for a program where you’ll only use 10% of the software.

Also, if you are looking for a good, but inexpensive laptop, check out the ASUS EEE.

Mrs. Biddle’s IB 11th Grade English classes spent a few weeks recently creating multimedia projects based on 5 novels.  I made this site to show off all of the videos.  Below is the best one:

Download Title