A blog2buds face2face

Mrs. McKenzie's email said that a student of hers was in our area on vacation and wanted to visit our school.

Whaaaaaat?! This wasn't your typical pen-pal operation. We had launched our blog2buds initiative at the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year after connecting with Mrs. McKenzie, a sixth grade teacher at Trinity Christian School in Canberra, Australia.

Blogging abroad is a brand new experience for students at Ripon Christian, and my sixth graders get a kick out of me jokingly calling them my guinea pigs...but they've taken the bull by the horns, proving their worth. And it's an understatement to say that I was excited to know they were going to be rewarded for their efforts.

Because of our hemisphere separation, our schools are opposite in seasons. While my students were sad to see Mrs. McKenzie's previous class move on after the Christmas holiday, they're excited to connect with a new bunch of "Year 6 Aussies", a group that began their new school year when we entered our spring season. The idea is to finish up our year with the new group and then have my incoming 6th graders connect with Mrs. McKenzie's current class next fall.

Ben, one of Mrs. McKenzie's new students, had flown into San Francisco with his mom and dad last week and had shown an interest in visiting our school, if possible. When they saw that our school was partway through their direct route from San Francisco to Yosemite, we together determined that it was meant to be. They would arrive Wednesday around 10:30, drop Ben off to experience school with us, and return a few hours later after lunch and recess to pick him up.

The visit was thrown together quickly, but I was amazed at how perfectly it went. When I told my students Tuesday that we were going to have a visitor from Mrs. McKenzie's class the next day, they were stoked! We made some loose plans for Ben and decided to be flexible with our school work.

When they checked in on Wednesday at our school office, it was just before our morning break. I walked over with two boys, Danton and Erik, and met Ben and his parents. After we exchanged our excitement over this unexpected opportunity, Danton took Ben to Band. When Band was over, Ben visited my English class. He wasn't shy to answer questions and share about his life in Australia with us or ask us questions about ourselves. For about 25 minutes he captivated his audience, showing us some Australian money, giving us a few mementos from Canberra, and telling us about kangaroos, school, and much more.

We then headed to the computer lab because we wanted to show him our blogging platform. He buddied with Erik and watched as Erik put his essay up on Kidblog.

My homeroom took a class picture with Ben, we ate lunch together, and then Ben roughed it with a bunch of kids at recess and played a little soccer. He visited Math class for a bit, and then his parents returned to pick him up. And that was it, a whirlwind of a tour!

The wonder of this blog2buds encounter would never have been possible without the concerted effort to reach out to a class across the world. And the wonder continues. As I mentioned, Ben is in the "new" class, so we will be able to connect with him when he returns to Canberra and gets blogging with his classmates. Perhaps we'll even attempt a Google Hangout between classes. It seems that the opportunities are endless.

Ben's mom, Ben, his dad, and me (Mr. T.)

I've set up a website called blog2buds that not only documents the beginnings of our blogging adventures but also gives tips on how to begin blogging with your class. I think the really cool part, though, is the Google Plus page you can link to from blog2buds where you can connect in discussion with other like-minded teachers. Take a look and perhaps you'll be able to connect online--maybe even face2face down the road--with some students abroad. Or use the #blog2buds hashtag on twitter (make sure to tag me @terpsmak) to start talking up your ideas with other teachers who also want to try out blogging with their classes.

Faith-Full Walls

I had the best view on campus. I could look out of my classroom windows past the shaded area of three sequoias to an unobstructed view of the basketball courts and larger turf beyond, past the houses and overpass to our town's water tower almost a mile away. But they told me I had to move.

So for all of the 2012-2013 school year I watched the work occur in real time. Through my windows, I could see the men make plans outside, destroy the basketball courts that had been there since I was a kid, dig ditches, and pour the foundation our new middle school building. I witnessed the end of an era and the beginning of a new one; it was bittersweet. I would be losing the view and relocating to the new building the following year.

A couple of constituents, brothers in business together, both of whose kids I taught, were hired to frame the new building. One special day, we were invited to tour the framed facility with our classes, not just for the fun of it, but for the purpose of "blessing the building". I took my students over, we were handed permanent markers, and we wrote our prepared Bible verses all over the framing. Each student had at least one verse picked out for this purpose, and our entire middle school got involved. The students walked through the "halls", "classrooms", even "bathrooms" reverently penning the verses they had chosen. It was a profound moment for me to watch my sixth graders silently write their blessings on the boards which would become the inner structure of our future building.

Verses like these:

Deuteronomy 6:9

Write [the commandments] on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Psalm 118:22

The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone...

Joshua 1:5b

I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Romans 8:39

...neither height nor depth, nor anything in all creation, 

will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And many many more...

What happened that day was profound, yes. It was symbolic, definitely. And it was ultimately meaningful to take that step in our Christian walk. By dedicating the building to the Lord, the students and teachers acted in faith that the Lord would be present for their futures, for our future. Even if we had not written Scripture on the doorframes, we know God would still be present with us, but it was in the act of finding a meaningful verse and then writing it that each person involved made a statement to God: "We invite you to surround us every day."

Now it's the spring of the following year, and we have been growing in our understanding and knowledge of Jesus, of each other, and of the world in which he's placed us. We have been literally surrounded by God-breathed Scripture all year. We can't see the passages anymore--they're hidden in the framing. But each day we re-devote ourselves to the Lord, and we know he surrounds us with his presence.

The wall of faith is important to note here. All year I've tried to design my English and Media classes around the analogy of the wall in 2 Kings 18-19. We gather the tools of our foundation behind the wall so that we can stand on the wall of faith and look out beyond the wall to a world that needs redemption.

I am now teaching (and the students are learning) inside the new middle school building surrounded by many walls of faith (faith-full walls, if you will) based on God's Word. This building has a view of its own--ironically, the scenery is comparable to last year's "best view on campus". Regardless of the view, though, we have climbed and are standing on the wall of faith together.

Digital Literacy: is digi-lit legit?

Am I dating myself when I say I love to read real books? You know, real books you hold in your hands, pages dog-eared, sometimes musty, the ones you can claim with your name on the inside cover? With the continual rise in the popularity of e-books and the devices which allow you to read them, in addition to the hold the Internet has on our lives in blogging, online news, and social networking, are our precious paperbacks on the way out? Likewise, is the literacy we teach in our schools current with the times? Is digital literacy legitimate?

The article Reading 2.0 from the Edutopia blog discusses pleasure reading vs. reading for test prep, a conflict that continues to be debated.

Will Richardson discusses the Internet in his book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Tools for the Classroom. Instead of the original Read Only Web or the Read/Write Web that came next, we now have a Read/Reflect/Write/Participate Web. The Internet is exploding with information, and the classroom must become a place that taps into the potential of the Internet...not only through teacher access but among students as well.

Many schools haven't dared to let students explore what is on the Web because of the dangers that may await them, or because of the issues that could arise. Recognizing that we actually do live in the digital age (by the way, The Digital Age is one of my favorite bands--you should check them out...) when online interactions abound, I think a school must accept the challenge to teach students appropriate use, careful study, and correct publishing while connected.

Current and Relevant Content
What is on the web is oftentimes more current and relevant than what is in a classroom textbook. Before I changed curriculums in sixth grade this year, our reading text in sixth and below was already 12 years old! Though terrific comprehension strategies and valuable vocabulary and critical thinking skills are taught, is it enough? I don't think so.

Giving students proper tools to interpret online content will allow them the chance to respond in a current and relevant manner, and their conversations with us and the world around them can continue. Students should be receiving valuable instruction and opportunity to develop the literacies important to being productive in the 21st Century.

Big Shifts
In his book, Will Richardson offers 10 "Big Shifts" to content and curriculum. Here are a few.

• One big shift is that learning can happen at anytime. Students don't need to wait to come to school and sit in their desks and listen to all of the wisdom we want to impart. They can search out their own interests online. It's what they're usually thinking about at school anyway. Giving students freedom to choose the path for a project of their choice (within defined parameters) will engage them. 
• Another big shift has become the collaborative nature of the Internet. As teachers, we will need to give opportunity for students to work together toward a common goal while using Web 2.0 tools. With the collaborative online tools available now, I think we must teach students that these should be used for school learning.
• Another shift in content and curriculum is that reading is now more active than it has ever been. Teaching students to be more critically aware of online text that has not been managed or edited becomes key. Students must also be writers in order to respond to what they read.
• A final shift to consider is that student work is meant not only for the teacher, class, or school, but it's for the larger world. The audience has expanded.

For a look at a sample of services that allow students to . . . learn at any moment . . . in a collaborative environment . . . actively . . . in ways meant for really anybody . . . see these tools your students probably already know about and possibly even use: 

YouTube    Reddit    Flipboard    Wordpress    Wikipedia    Wikispaces.

No longer do students read by simply picking up a book for enjoyment, or even assignment or research. Giving students opportunities to interact with online content in manageable ways becomes a new type of literacy. Using various Web 2.0 tools that we've identified as useful to this end will be the new norm.

10 Game Mechanics for the Classroom

About.me
I teach sixth graders, and I know they would be sold on the concept, but I struggle with the premise of applying game mechanics in my classroom. I loved video games as a kid, and sometimes I found myself connected for too many hours to my game of choice: Super Mario Brothers on Nintendo. As an adult I've found certain games for my phone that have created the same "time suck" that those Italian brothers did for me when I was younger. One game in particular, Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle Earth, occupied my thoughts constantly, so much so that I erased it from my phone, waited a couple of weeks, loaded it a second time, and finally erased it for good, never to return...yet. Maybe a bit of an addictive personality.

I couldn't get past the negative effects these types of games have on me. I figured these games were a waste of time and energy, and the people that I love were not getting my full attention because I couldn't help but wonder what was going on in my game at every instant.

Enter World of Warcraft.

Assignment
As part of a class I took, I was required to play WoW, so I dove in. After creating my character, a night elf rogue named Wolfsmak, I checked out level 1. I sat there for an hour trying to move and checking tutorial options, and then I frustratedly turned it off. The next day I thought I'd better give it another go, so after reading that you move through the game by clicking BOTH the left and right mouse buttons, I began traveling through the forests. It was fun! Altogether too much fun... I can see how incrementally gaining knowledge and powers bit by bit is motivating. But I was still terribly concerned about the "time suck".

Personally and professionally, I think children need to have balance in their video or computer game play, really for the time commitment it becomes. I believe there are much better uses of their time.

Going through the first 10 levels of the game (per the assignment instructions) has opened my eyes to the benefits educators can glean from understanding how these popular games work. Noting the mechanics of the game and the inspiration, motivation, and determination it creates in students was helpful. While I still believe that these games are mostly a waste of time in and of themselves, I have seen the benefits they can bring to a classroom environment. I specifically enjoyed the progress bar at the bottom of the screen in WoW and was very motivated to get that last little bit so that I could reach the next level. Creating this drive in students seems worthwhile to me.

So if you choose to play WoW or Minecraft or whatever, I trust that you will look through the lens of the educator "for the good of the students". I discovered 10 game mechanics from WoW and have listed them below with the classroom applications that may be helpful for you. Take a look.

Mechanic #1: 
Tailor your character to your desires.

• Give students choice for completion of the activity.
• If the same activity is required, give options within the activity.
• Include a student art project within the activity.

Mechanic #2: 
Seek advice with a "how-to" or tutorial on the Internet.

• Allow students to seek advice from classmates, teacher, Internet, or reference book.
• Create a FAQ sheet for the activity to help students help themselves.
• Train 2 different student experts for each activity so students can come to them with questions first.

Mechanic #3: 
Follow a step by step process for quest completion.

• Give clear written instructions and review with students.
• Make the sequence for activity completion logical.

Mechanic #4: 
Listen to encouraging words from those who give instructions.

• Stay motivating as a teacher and encourage students to use only positive words with each other.
• Every criticism should be started with something positive.

Mechanic #5: 
Spend as much time as you want to complete the quest.

• Allow students ample work time.
• Allow students to progress at their pace, teaching mini-lessons for small groups, focusing on differentiation.
• Set up stations in the classroom where small groups can go to work on a designated piece of the activity.

Mechanic #6: 
Note your progression with a progress bar shows what's been completed.

• Create a digital or material slide bar in the classroom to show progress on an activity.
• Give a reward (level up) when the progress bar reaches the end.

Mechanic #7: 
Revive your character without any other penalty by reaching the "graveyard" when death occurs.

• Give feedback to students and have them redo part of an activity for full credit.
• Remind students that it takes time to erase a mistake but that it's a necessary part of school and life.

Mechanic #8: 
Receive new abilities or tools as you progress, which help you to dive deeper into the story/game.

• Celebrate with students when they gain a new "tool" in understanding the activity or material.
• Give students a new tool (pencil or eraser) when they finish a tough activity.
• Create an activity that has multiple layers. Possibly allow different students to start at different points, progressing to the next level if they can reach the end.

Mechanic #9: 
Collaborate with other players within the game.

• Give classroom time for collaboration with peers.
• Find a class that's doing something similar and connect with them via Skype or Google Hangout or Blogging to discuss ideas.
• Create a website of some material the students have mastered and share it with other classes in different locations.

Mechanic #10: 
Receive rewards for quest completion.

• Give incentives like a homework pass or extra recess time when an activity is completed well.
• Create experience points that students can use in the classroom "market to buy small items.

Perhaps you have a game of choice and can add some more game mechanics for the classroom. Maybe you've tried something that has or has not worked. Feel free to share what you know and add to the discussion.

Write Me a Delicious Meal

Teaching writing makes me hungry.

Over the years, I've developed what I think is a memorable mini-lesson on the structure of essay writing in the middle school grades. To encourage students to organize their thoughts on whatever topic is required or chosen, we first create a concept web with a central bubble for the thesis and introduction details, three bubbles coming off the original intro bubble that represent the main ideas of the body paragraphs, and a final bubble connected in a different way (perhaps a dotted line) for the conclusion. We use this web to brainstorm, we scribble on it when we change our minds, we X out and add on as necessary throughout the assignment. This is the first step in the writing process: the planning stage.

The fun part, though, comes in the drafting and revising stages, the second and third steps of the writing process. To inspire students to put sentences down on paper, I like to tell a true story.

My wife and I decided to have a date night and go out to dinner. We picked Tahoe Joe's Famous Steakhouse because we found a rare 2 for $20 seasonal coupon. Great food for two people for $20! What could be better? It was quite a steal. We walked up to the counter, put our name in, and were quickly seated. The smiling waitress approached and informed us that for the special, we could choose one appetizer, two entrees, and one dessert to share.

Appetizer--Introduction
My wife and I began when the waitress served us up the Jackpot Nachos: "piled high with refried beans, jack and cheddar cheese, tomatoes, jalepeños, and topped with sour cream, homemade guacamole and green onions". Oh, what a flavorful way to start our meal and prepare us for what was to come! The nachos had a distinction all to themselves--salty, strong, spicy, sharp--and the sharing of it prevented us from eating too much.
Much the same way, the introduction to an essay must be memorable. From the first thesis, the intro should have a flavor all its own. Consider a strong sensation, something sharp, that you can use sensory details to explore with your audience. Give them a solid base from which to begin, like the chips. Then detail where you're headed in your essay with a question, a story, some facts, the fixings on the nachos, if you will. Finally, build into a transition statement that brings the focus into the next phase of your "meal", the body.

Entrée--Body
Right about when we finished up our appetizer, the waitress dropped by to clear our plates and refill our drinks, noting that we were ready for our entrée. I had chosen Joe's Steak: "slow roasted for over 19 hours, then rolled in cracked black pepper and wood grilled". As usual, I ordered it medium as to retain the delectable juices of the beef. I also selected the Baby Greens Salad and the Mountain Mashers to go along with my main course. This phase of my meal had variety in color, flavor, and texture, and I was not disappointed when I took my first (not to mention my last) bite. I have to admit, I was feeling rather full at the end of this course, but I was delightfully satisfied.
This is really what we're here for, the main course. In the body of the essay, we arrive at the main points of the paper. Just as the waitress brought my steak entrée with my salad and potatoes, the body can be split into three topics. Each paragraph, then, should open with a topic sentence that clearly states the important point you're trying to make, follow with details in support of it, and end with another transition statement that relates to the next main point. The body as a whole should work together to support the thesis, but each paragraph of the body should appeal to the reader individually. At the end of the body, the reader should feel delightfully satisfied. Perhaps at this point, it's time to "push back the plate", allow for some reflection, and prepare for dessert, the final conclusion in the essay.

Dessert--Conclusion
When I'm satisfied after the main course, I tend to push my plate away semi-dramatically to signal that I'm finished. No matter how much I've eaten, though, there's always room for dessert. When the waitress came by and asked what dessert we'd decided to share, it was going to have to be the Nevada Cheesecake: "Joe likes his cheesecake tall, with a thick graham cracker crust and fresh whipped cream. You're going to like it too!" I knew it was the best option, and as my wife and I were served up the huge piece of cheesecake with two forks, we immediately dug into the sweet richness of our favorite dessert. We were relatively full, but we wanted that smooth end to a great meal.

While I didn't originally pick Tahoe Joe's for the dessert, it was definitely something I was looking forward to from the beginning. Teaching students how to structure a conclusion is tricky, but one thing I like to emphasize is that it should have a flavor all its own. Oftentimes, people save the most thought-provoking point until the end, or they share a related story that drives home their thesis. They may even review the main points and dive deeper into one of them, or end with a challenge for the reader. Whatever the structure of the conclusion, I think it should provide a smooth closing to the paper, just as the dessert does for the end of a meal. Keeping it relatively short and sweet, yet rich, will allow for a satisfying end.

The Experience
Encompassing my entire meal at Tahoe Joe's is the overall experience. The host or hostess, waiter or waitress, manager, and cooks (perhaps even a bartender) create that dining experience for me. There are lots of smiles, refills, check-ups, and there's attention to detail (think: editing in stage 4 of the writing process). If I'm unsatisfied, they'll even bring me something new. They're looking to ensure a positive environment for me so that I...#1 come back, #2 leave a fat tip, or even #3 publish a great review. As a writer, a student can likewise strive to create the proper atmosphere for the reader. Using the analogy above, the audience for the essay is the patron who walked in, coupon in hand, ready for a delicious experience. As a teacher, I read what the students serve up to me, and I look forward to my delicious meal.

I told you that teaching writing makes me hungry. How's your appetite?

Tech or Treat?

I should have probably figured out how to publish this on Halloween. Kids walk up to your door all bedazzled or bedraggled, depending if they're a princess or a zombie, and say, "Trick or Treat." You smile (or frown), give them their candy and then send them on their way.

As teachers, do you think the students and parents notice why we use technology in the classroom?  Do we carefully analyze our methods and use technology strategically? Or do we use it to treat our students to something engaging and fun? Tech or Treat?

I would say...both.

As educators, I think we all understand the swinging pendulum in education. What was popular yesterday is dismissed tomorrow and then brought back in a slightly different form and attempted again next week. Will technology in the classroom fade away in the same manner?

To answer this question, I think educators, parents, and students must be clear about why we use technology in the classroom and how it differs from the other educational shifts that have faded into the background. Rather than dive into a philosophical argument, I just want to iterate that technology is just a tool...a trick, if you will.

Now, when I say the word "just", I guess that's really what I mean--it's just a tool to guide the students in their learning. Let me say, though, that it's a really cool tool. Compared to what we've had in the past, it's dizzying to keep track of what is available to us now.

I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie, and students used slates to chalk in their practice work in Spelling and Math. Chalkboards (or blackboards) came along for whole class instruction and were a mainstay in education for years. I remember when I got my first whiteboard with dry erase markers, something I still use. Overhead projectors are still popular. But now we have interactive whiteboards, document cameras, projectors, AirPlay, even 1:1 tablets and laptops. Technology means something different to us than it did to Laura Ingalls in her one-room schoolhouse on the frontier.

The tools used, though, are comparable in purpose. In the old-fashioned classroom, students used personal slate tablets; now students may use individual iPads, much more powerful tablets.

Regardless of the era, educators encourage students to claim their own learning.

So is tech used strategically, or is it simply for fun? Is it Tech or Treat?

The Tech: I will not attempt the technology in the classroom if it doesn't help to meet one of my lesson objectives, and I do not write my objectives for the technology. I want students to write with purpose, and many times they can do this with pencil and paper, but with the advent of blogging services like Kidblog and others, as well as the support of Google Docs, I can add deeper purpose and create a wider audience for the students. When I want the students to see, learn, and imitate the artwork of Rembrandt, I can direct them to the $0.99 app named after the artist. Likewise, if I want to use formative assessment to see if my students are understanding a presented math concept, I may use Socrative to take a poll or QuickKey to give a short quiz. The opportunities seem boundless. The learning roots more deeply through the use of the technologies available to us in 2014.

The Treat: This is the fun one. Do your students' faces light up when you introduce a new tech tool? When they explore a new app and dig in, are they focused? Most students we encounter these days have grown up with the technology, and even if they haven't, they desire to dive in and go for it. Students appreciate when the teacher takes risks, which creates a safe environment for them to take risks, which in turn pushes them farther than you may have ever thought possible. They are engaged. And when students are engaged in their learning, they will amaze you. If we can use the tech to excite them about their learning, half the battle is won.

Tech AND Treat: If you are completely honest with yourself, I would bet that you're tempted at Halloween to scare the bejeebers out of those kids, complete strangers, who walk up to your door and ask for candy with a "Trick or Treat". But I would also wager that you would then turn around and enjoy giving a treat to the polite and expectant child. The smile and the thanks is worth the hassle. Along those lines, technology is a type of tool, perhaps a "trick", educators carefully use to deepen learning, but if you look closely, you will see the thankfulness in a student's demeanor when he or she receives the "treat" to explore and create with the technologies available today.