Capturing hard to teach concepts

This is an entry about Screen Recordings. I think that Screen Recordings are great for teaching students concepts like procedures for the mechanics of writing term papers for example. Personally, a learning unit that I would use Screen Recording for would be the concept of importing a graphic into PowerPoint. I like for my students to make PowerPoint presentations. The problem is that many students are not sure of how to import graphics into PowerPoint and specifically how to size and crop an image, which is critical to know. I would create a Screen Recording of the steps for importing an image into PowerPoint and then steps that would be needed to size and crop the picture. Another Screen Recording that I would teach would be how to make the transitions in PowerPoint. It is critical that transitions enhance a presentation, not take away from it. As an educator, I want my students to do their best work when presenting their information about the views of Federalists v. AntiFederalists or what position(s) were taken on issues between the North and the South during the U.S. Civil War. Simply put, it behooves me to make sure that my students have essential computer skills,so that they can function effectively in the school setting and in life in general. Screen Recordings are best used for concepts that students have trouble understanding time after time. Screen Recordings are not used as often as some other classroom tools, but it is a tool that can a great help to any teacher.

Student Success is only a Flickr away

I have recently discovered the wonderful software called Flickr. It allows you to upload and share photos in a controlled setting, where you can maintain your privacy and your student's privacy as well. I have thought about the idea of incorporating Flickr into a learning unit on the history of my town. I believe that I could have students take pictures of older homes in my town, documenting where founders of the town use to live. My students could use Flickr to document how some of the older businesses in town have changed over time. My students would write reports about the history of the businesses, how they were started and the impact that certain historical events like World War II and the rationing of goods had on these businesses.

My students could also use Flickr to document how traffic patterns have changed in recent decades with the influx of new people moving from nearby major cities to avoid paying high taxes. How would the increase in traffic and need for housing effect the community in which my students live? What are the implications for the need for more teachers in the local schools? The need to open more coffee shops or fast food restaurants? Population trends over time could be studied. Specifically, my students could take pictures of the newer local businesses and use these ideas as springboards into research about economic trends in our town and other nearby communities.

These are just some ideas of how to incorporate Flickr into a teaching unit for my students.

How to educate In Social Studies Class with YouTube

In doing some research for how to incorporate more video into classroom teaching, I came across these videos on YouTube. I would like to a little bit of time and discuss each one of the videos and how they could increase the effectiveness of my teaching. One of the videos that I enjoyed looking at is a video on Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance. This short video makes a good connection between the culture of the 1920s and into the 1930s and shows how timely the poetry of Hughes is even today. What I mean is that many issues that Hughes addresses in his poetry is being currently felt by our nation. It’s easy to say that the past is not relevant anymore. I beg to differ. Langston Hughes was a very talented poet who has inspired our nation. This video would meet a goal I have of helping students get a good basic foundation for the culture of the Harlem Renaissance, so we can explore the issues that the poetry of Hughes and other writers raises within the proper cultural context. The video is found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehprXnIP7X0.

Another video that I found that has piqued my curiosity is a video about the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the true stories of people who worked for them that lived in Central Pennsylvania. I think that using primary sources to explain and clarify history is critical for student’s understanding of how history touches their lives. These true stories show the good, the bad, and the ugly of life in Central Pennsylvania in the 1930s. The Great Depression was a time when people got up everyday, not being sure if they were even going to eat or not. I can draw parallels to the economy today. Many people are facing uncertain economic futures. Many people are simply grateful to have jobs to go to. This was much like Central Pennsylvania in the 1930s. I would use this video to draw students into the Great Depression era and help them understand that economic hardship affects people in all levels of the social strata. I believe that it would be a good idea to make sure that students are presented with historical accounts from politicians, movie stars, and other writers from the 1930s, to get a more accurate picture of the 1930s.
The video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Zjps2RY7l8.

One last video that I wanted to share with you is a famous speech by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, that he made after Pearl Harbor on December 8,1941. This speech was listened to by the whole country. This speech ended up convincing a nation that we must go to war to protect ourselves. Roosevelt emphasized places by name, that the Japanese had attacked. Roosevelt used rhetorical techniques to convince people of the need to go to war. I would like to use to video to help make those old textbooks come alive. History is alive and well. It is vibrant and full of life. Many people wrongly presume that History should be studied because we have to do it.
History should be studied to help us better grasp how important it is to simply live our lives, knowing we make history, everyday, even if we don’t plan on it. Roosevelt had no idea had no idea how long World War II would last. He simply did what he believed needed to be done at the time. It is a very brave thing to do to ask people to go to war over something. I definitely want to use Roosevelt’s speech and break it down for students to give a clear perspective on the implications of what he is was saying and how that impacted the entire United States from that forward. You can find the Roosevelt speech at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgthakFtZQY.
I think it’s clear that I have a strong belief in using videos to help teach my students. Who would have thought that there was so much information available for teachers on YouTube? I, for one, was pleasantly surprised and thrilled. Now, let’s see what I find on YouTube for my next lesson…

Podcasting—Audio Blogging for the Ages.

I don’t know about you, but I enjoy listening to podcasts. Whether a podcast is about the day’s events or your favorite hobby, many people make listening to podcasts a routine like drinking a cup of coffee or eating a bagel on the way to work. Podcasting for educators, however, involves a whole different set of issues. For one, podcasts are definitely great ways to post weekly reminders to students about completing assignments and allowing students to find out about missing assignments, when they are absent from class. Podcasts are a super tool that can allow educators to explain how to write essays and review concepts in foreign languages. As a Social Studies educator, I see podcasts as making education come alive for students. Podcasting allows people to express their opinions on many topics. Podcasts are a forum for the masses. The trick is to find podcasts that target the needs of your audience, in this case students, or to create podcasts with computer software (like Audacity) that address the needs of your students. Here is a small sampling of podcasts that you, as the educator, may want to explore when addressing topics in Social Studies.
1. The 60-second Civics podcast is a free podcast that can found on iTunes. This podcast explains concepts about politics and American society to high school age students. The people who create the podcasts are the same people who have written the We the People: the citizen and Constitution curriculum. Therefore, the material is geared for the high school student, but perhaps could be used at the middle school with some explanation of concepts by the educator.
2. Another free podcast on iTunes is the One Person can make a difference series. This series discusses people in history like Amelia Earhart and Coco Chanel and can give students a snippet of the history behind a person and can lead to further discussions in your classroom.
3. For those who would like to explore New Jersey History at an introductory level, this podcast also found in iTunes is also a great opportunity to show students what they can do to teach their peers with technology.
4. One other site that I would like to mention is The Education Podcast Network, which is found at http://epnweb.org. This website is filled with tons of podcasts for educators for Social Studies, English, Science, Mathematics and even Music and Theatre Arts Education. The website does stress that they do not certify the content for the podcasts. You as the educator must preview the material before your students listen to it. I personally found the History Podcast and the podcast called First Amendment Minute to be very good. The First Amendment Minute would be a good “prime the pump” tool to engage in First Amendment discussion with students in Government classes. The History Podcast deals with a variety of topics, which would fit many different history classes in Middle and High School.
I need to reemphasize the point for educators that you must preview podcasts, as scrupulously as you do any other material you use in your classrooms. As I said before, this is not an all-inclusive list. I personally believe that podcasting may become the “new” standard for how we educate students effectively, when using technology. It would be very easy for students to create podcasts for their student portfolios as examples of effective oral communication in Speech classes, for example. Who knows, with audio and video podcasts, podcasting may become the accepted standard for students showing they have addressed standards in the classrooms of tomorrow. Just something to consider.

To use Blogs to teach or not to teach, that is the question?

The title of this article is a major butchering of the quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, “to be or not to be, that is the question”. But I think that it is very appropriate in this case. Have you ever stopped to consider the role that blogs can play in the field of education? In my case, I am involved with students who complete their education through a form of distance learning. So, I believe that blogging could be a great way to foster learning in students and can help the educator to see how effectively that students are embracing and engaging with the information they are mastering in their classes. It’s easy to tell a student to complete these worksheets or to create this PowerPoint to ensure that we give students access to technology. It’s much harder to explain why we use technology to enhance how students learn in the classroom, whether learning in the virtual or in a more traditional classroom setting. The use of blogs can help students learn to communicate their ideas through writing, as well as through videos and podcasts. Students must learn how to teach themselves skills for survival in everyday life. Learning to communicate through blogs and similar formats can help students to find motivation in the way they learn new information and put it together with information from the past.

For educators, I think that blogging is a good way to help us maintain our edge in education. What do I mean? What I mean is that when we educators are more involved in learning new skills to be better teachers, than our students can be empowered by educators who are excited about their subject fields. Have you ever been in a classroom where the person was very knowledgeable about their field, but may have not been the best communicator about why their field of study was so exciting? I know that has happened to me in the past. However, I am someone who is self-motivated to learn new things. Some students are adventurous and try new things. Many students, though, need some motivation and encouragement to facilitate learning. That is what all good educators do. They motivate students to be their personal best and allow them to see that it is okay to fail at first. The point is that someone does not live in failure. They get up and try again. So, when students see their teachers try and fail at things, but get up and try again, that can be very motivating for teachers and for their students as well. I want to end this blog session with something to consider. Educators are told to use technology to help our students to succeed and be their best. The question that I pose to you is this—Do we structure our classes and assignments to fit our use of technology or do we use our technology to augment our classes and assignments for our students? I would love to hear your responses.

Who is Safe in the Blogosphere?

I am just beginning the process of writing my first blog. I have been reading some articles about posting blogs. After reading these articles, I have come to some conclusions about the blogosphere. I think that blogging is a great way to express thoughts and feelings about a variety of topics. I believe that blogging is a great opportunity to see how you can synthesize what you have learned about life and speak about it to a new and wider audience. However, blogging can be fraught with dangers. Specifically, I am referring to the type of personal information that you place on the Internet about yourself. It’s true that many people can take your information and use it for nefarious means such as creating false identities.

I don’t think this means that we should be afraid to use the Internet to express our views. I do think that we should be sure that whatever we post on the Internet, we are okay with having on the Internet. Adults and children both must be cautious about their Internet activities. I personally believe that we should stick with the old maxim “Let the buyer beware” or to be more accurate, “Let the web blogger beware”.

The use of blogs has jumped tremendously in the last few years. There are great insights into the minds of people and their views about society and world events. Bloggers must also be careful what they say about others. Making statements that are unfounded and even false can lead to potential lawsuits. In some respects, blogs can be almost be viewed as a type of “Internet Editorial Page”, akin to the editorial pages written by many newspaper columnists for decades. The difference often lies in the intent of the blogs that one creates. Are they created to simply inform people about life and share opinions about various topics or are they created with the intent to hurt others? That is a tricky and difficult question to answer.

My personal belief is that blogs can be used to educate people and society about themselves. Blogs are a great tool for conveying ideas. The key is, how do we use them? That is something that we all have to consider for ourselves.