Pete's Blog

Kids and Video Games

2009-01-05T16:08:00.001-08:00

I have always been a fan of playing video games. From Pong to the Atari 2600 to Dr J vs Larry Bird on an old Vic 20 I have played them all. The games today are lot more complex than the games of yesterday. This means improved graphics and game play so I am not complaining. Sports games (especially football) have really been my favorites. My son who is 6 has taken to playing the games now. I am absolutely amazed at how quickly he is able to pick them up and play them. There is no fear of messing them up it is just get on and go. I sat and watched him play over the break a few times. As a sat here I asked him a few times about what he was doing and why. I noticed he would run a play to the right and the next play he would flip it to go to the left. When I asked why he would switch it he told me “because there was more room to the other side now.” Whenever he uses a running play he always went to the wide side of the field. I have to be honest that I had forgotten how to switch the play so when he wanted play against me I was asking “how do you do this or how do you do that”. It had been a while since I played the games but didn’t think I would forget all the little tricks. He has picked up the how to play the games and now I am trying to teach him some of the strategies of the game. He still doesn’t like to punt and would “go for it” on every fourth down if I didn’t give him a hard time about it. I do think he is learning about things as he plays both about strategy but also about general problem solving. Still don’t think he is ready for Grand Theft Auto though…

Presentation Skills

2008-11-18T15:42:00.000-08:00

I attended a presentation yesterday and really wonder how people become "consultants". Does having Dr. in front of your name do it? Having a book published? What does it. The person I saw was brought here (to VA) from California. She was not brought here just for this particular presentation but it was part of a few that she was doing while on this coast. I have heard many people speak highly of this presenter and she did have some good ideas. However I was not impressed with her at all. There were numerous references to personal life experiences (failed eharmony and match.com matches), a borderline inappropriate joke, a very dry presentation. I almost feel like if I could have gotten as much out of it if I had the handout and the powerpoint without sitting through the whole presentation. I wonder how much it cost to get her here. I wonder if I am the only one who was not impressed with the presentation. I did make some mental notes about things that I will make sure I pay attention to in myself as I present to others.

On-Line Learning

2008-11-17T16:53:00.001-08:00

There are many things that I like about online learning. The freedom to work when I have time and not having to go anywhere to go to class are two of the biggest. I do have some problems with online work and that is with people who do not do their part or do it very late. I struggle with relying on others to complete tasks. In a face-to-face class discussion /projects are worked on right there. In an online course where discussion is a part of it (which has been every online course that i have taken) you have to wait for others to take part in the discussion before it can continue. For example if something is due on the 15th it does not help too much to post on the 14th at 10:30pm. There can be no discussion or at least not much since it was so late. So then it is more of a comment board and not so much a discussion board. While I know that there can be discussions after the due date I find that many times people do not go back. They move on to the next task. I wonder how these teachers would handle this in their own classroom. A question is asked or a comment is made and no one in the class answers or responds until 4 seconds before the bell rings. Would this work? While online is different for many how long does it take for people (especially teachers) to get on board and see the benefits of participating a little more fully and a little earlier.

Testing, Testing Everywhere

2008-11-12T14:50:00.000-08:00

It is somewhat amazing to watch the way a school functions once it is time for a standardized testing. We are currently involved with benchmark testing and there seems to be a glazed look on many teachers' faces. Teachers talking about the results, the amount of time they have to spend analyzing the results, what they can and can't do for follow up. I do not envy them at all. When I was a classroom teacher there were not benchmark tests for my course (thank goodness). I wonder if the students feel the pressure that their teachers feel for these tests. Do they understand what their teachers are going though? Do they care? Does it make a difference? The students hear about the importance of their SOL's but are the benchmarks more of a concern for the teachers?

Election

2008-11-04T15:41:00.000-08:00

While everyone has been talking about this years presidential election I was really impressed with how it was handled in our school. The 7th grade Civics teachers really did a lot to make this a very memorable learning experience. They put on convention, held a debate and then had the entire school vote. Not everyone could vote. You had to register first. The students played a role in the entire process. They worked on voter registration. They researched the candidates and their stances on certain issues. They were the ones debating in front of the entire 7th grade while it was broadcasting throughout the entire school with the help of the media management system. They worked the polling stations on Monday. Talk about authentic. The election was held on Monday with Senator McCain winning with a 53% vote to Senator Obama's 47%. In all, there were over 590 votes cast from faculty and students. To hear the students talk about the election and to see them working all of the different aspects of the electoral process was very exciting. It made me wonder why more teachers don't do activities like this. I know the answer already. There are two that I hear the most. SOL's and time. It was a lot of time on the teachers part. Planning, setting up, working out all the logistics were a nightmare. Fortunately for the students, this did not stop them. The second reason being SOL's. They taught all the required SOL's and I have the feeling that when tested on these our students will do very well. These are the types of things that we should be doing with our students. I don't think all need to be done on such a a large scale but these are ways to really make the connection for the students.

Success

2008-10-30T16:14:00.000-07:00

It's nice when we can finally see the pay-off to all the work we do. I have to say that there is nothing more rewarding (professionally at least) than when a teacher comes up to me, excited about using some piece of technology that I worked with them on. I have spent countless hours with teachers going over the same thing time and time again. Sometimes I wonder if it is how I am teaching it, or if they are just not truly interested in learning it. As I look back at my activity log it is somewhat funny to see the number the times I have repeated the same training with the same people.

Today was somewhat different. I had a teacher looking for me at the end of the day not to complain about something that didn't work, or ask for help but to tell me that she used the clickers without any help. To some this may not seem like a big deal but this was a teacher that was really reluctant to even try them. With one of the goals that our school has with an increase on the use of technology for assessments, she had to do something. I worked with her on setting up her classes in CPS and getting an assessment ready. He first time she used them she wanted me there to do the classes for her. I did and everything went fine. The second time she used them, she set up the assessment on her own . She wanted me to be in the room to help her when there were problems or issues. The day she used them I was in the room. There were no problems and everything went fine. She told me she would let me know when she was going to use them again so I could be there "just in case".... I waited and waited. After school she came up to me excited that she used for all her classes today with no help. During one class she forgot to change the class name in the CPS program. This means that it was recording answers for the wrong students. She noticed it, corrected it, and moved on. She was so happy that it went well (as was I). After her telling me of her success I asked her what was the next thing that we were going to tackle? Rather than telling me "nothing" we are now considering the SmartBoard or SCORE. Her goal is each nine weeks to pick-up and start incorporating something new.

What I find funniest about the events of today is how excited she was to tell me that it all went well. "You are going to be so proud of me" is how she started the conversation with me and I was. I don't know if some of the teachers know or realize that when they are successful with something that I work with them on I too feel a sense of success. This is the reason we are in the schools. It reaffirms many of my beliefs. This will not show up in any activity log or in my portfolio but that's ok. We'll just move on to the next piece of technology with teacher to help her try and reach all her students...

Summer PD wrap-up

2008-10-28T12:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the last face to face meeting with our summer professional development course. I have to be honest and say that I am not sad to see it end. I really question the effectiveness of a 2 hour face to face meeting after they have worked all day. There were some teachers who only seemed interested in getting out of there. How late are you going to keep us? If we don't take a break can we get out early? were just some of the comments that were made. Sometimes I wonder how these same teachers would react if there students acted the same way. Maybe it was because it ends up being a long day and they had other places they would have rather been. But they signed up for the course. No one forced them. I understand that they signed up last April and who really knows what you have going on the following October. But just the general lack of interest was the most frustrating. While I did not get this feeling from all it always seems to be from the loudest.

While I am writing about the wrap-up I guess I will add something else that really irritates mes me. Believe me this is not confined to the pd. Showing up 25 minutes late for something with a Starbucks coffee in your hand. To me that just show a general lack of respect for the people who made sure that they could get there on time. I always wonder how far out of the way did someone have to go to get that? If they didn't stop to get the coffee would it be possible that they could have made the course on time? I used to work with 2 teachers who would be late just about everyday for work. Kids lined up at the door waiting to get into their homeroom while the teacher strolls in with her cup of coffee. I know this is an administrative issue but to me it seems like a personal issue. If you need your cup of coffee to get your day started no problem just leave earlier. I know that there are some times when things can not be controlled. Traffic is bad, accidents happen, you wake up late, and some other things that are out of our control. Sometime I wonder if people think about that or if the attitude is just I'll there when I get there?

Blogging

2008-10-15T16:46:00.001-07:00

Once again here I am trying to think of what to write in a blog. This is still something I am not completely comfortable with. Not really sure why. I guess I figure if I force myself to do this eventually it will all make sense. I am looking forward to working though this 20 hour course on many of the Web 2.0 tools. It will be interesting to work with and learn about the tools and ways that I can help other teachers incorporate them into their classes. This should be a fun adventure.

Winding Down

2007-06-26T17:59:00.000-07:00

1 Down and 1 and a half to go. The course is almost over and there is a sense of relief that is starting to come over me. I have finished just about the all o fthe online work with just putting the final pieces together for my leadership plan. One last section on my professional portfolio and that can be put to bed. The only thing left is the exit interview. We started to divide up the sections that we are going to cover. It was fun to look back at all of the work that we did for the cohort. Looking at some of the reflections from the first semester made it feel like it was so long ago. I remember getting the list of books for that semester and thinking this is going to be crazy. No way am I reading this much. Sure enough it all got read, and discussed, and analyzed. Have to be honest though, I don't miss having to read a book every other week. This entire journey has been such a learning experience. Not just the content from the class but also a lot about myself.

Learning Together

2007-06-19T18:55:00.000-07:00

Tonight’s class was another learning experience. I really like the opportunity to sit there and try to figure out or work through some of the different things that we are learning. While at times I get frustrated it is usually for stupid things. Like hitting the backspace button in Angel and rather than having it delete the previous letter it takes you back a screen. I enjoy the experimenting with the new technology we are working with to figure out how to make something happen or work. I especially like the fact that everyone in the class is learning new things together. It is nice that Bill does not just sit there with all of the answers but learns right along with us and experiments and tests to see how some things work. That is something that many teachers are afraid to do with their classes.

In class tonight we finished out Podcast for our advocacy site (you can check it out at: http://standarizedtestingoverkill.pbwiki.com/FrontPage ). This was the first Podcast that I have ever done. It was relatively easy to create but difficult to stay in the 30 second time allotment. It was nice to get all of the advocacy wiki done so I can concentrate on finishing the portfolio, online class work, and preparing to for the exit interview.

Digital Video

2007-06-17T17:26:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we created our Advocacy PSA . It was actually pretty fun to do. I am a big fan of digital video. It is amazing what can be done with a free program (moviemaker), a digital video camera, and just a little knowledge. I am really enjoying this course and not only learning new (to me) technologies but actually using them.

Next up will be the podcast which I am excited about learning. That has been a buzzword around the last year and I have not had the opportunity to create one. I am pretty familiar with the audio software that we are going to use.

Advocacy and Online

2007-06-06T18:27:00.000-07:00

Working on the advocacy wiki has been fun. Just like many of the projects throughout the cohort working in groups is much more beneficial than working alone. This is soemthing that I have to continue pushing in my school as I work with teachers. I have noticed an improvement of staying on task as the semesters have worn on. There is not as much time spent off task now as there was in the beginning fo the cohort. I did find uploading a file tonight onto our wiki to be somewhat troublesome and frustrating. Last week it was no problem but tonight for som reason it wanted to be difficult. But we got it working late (thanks Bill).

THe online course is going along. I am doing a good job about staying ahead of where I want to be on it. There seems to be a lot more work for this particular online course in comparison to the previous courses. My goal is still to be done with the online course when the face to face is over.

Class 3

2007-05-31T18:13:00.000-07:00

Set up my first Wikipedia page today. I think it is a cool concept and was fun to work through but not sure that it is something that I would have done if it were not for class. I am more of a "silent surfer" on the web. I will look and find the information that I want but very rarely post anything. I have been on wikipedia a few times prior to this class but never really felt the urge to add anything.

With two young sons I find it difficult to find the time to do these types of things. I am glad that we are being "forced" to use these for the course. I do see the benefit and could see them being used for classes in schools with students.

We really started working on the advocay website and that is coming along. I like working in groups (which we have throughout the cohort) becuase I learn so much form others. Not so sure that I would pay attention as much if these were done in all class discussions or if all of the assignments were done individually.

Working through Frustration

2007-05-28T16:11:00.000-07:00

Everything we have done in the cohort so far has always revolved around authentic problems. I am really having a hard time with that and the most recent assignment that we need to create for this course. I am struggling with coming up with an authentic problem for blogging or wikis. I see the benefit of them and have ideas for uses of them but can not come up with a good authentic problem.

Class 2

2007-05-24T18:51:00.000-07:00

The second class we saw some pretty cool tools. It was funny to listen (including me) about how overwhelming the course was going to be from the first week to everyone settling down and getting back in the flow the second week. Last week we starting talking about some of the tools and things we will be working on and this week really started using some of them. Dr. Warrick also showed us some cool tools that we can use to start to organize and keep up with psoting and changes to blogs. This reinforces what I saw last week that this is going to be a fun, interesting course.

I am also looking forward to getting the advocacy project rolling.

Graduation

2007-05-20T16:32:00.000-07:00

Graduation was yesterday and I am really glad that I went and took part in both ceremonies. Going through those has really motivated me to get the course work done and finish up. It has really put the "end in site". It seems like there is still a lot to do (and there maybe) but it definitely put the end in perspective.

The Last Semester

2007-05-17T17:58:00.000-07:00

As I sit in class and listen to Dr. Warrick talk about all of the things that we need to do this semester I can't help but wonder how is it all going to get done. It seems like there is a lot of material to cover and work to do without much time. I know it will get done (it always does) but for some reason this time it seems like a lot more. I think part of it is the time of year. Right now there are a lot of things going on and wrapping up and this just gets added to it. I have really enjoyed this cohort but am looking for the pressure and stress of the work and deadlines to get done, to be gone. I always add more of that to myself. I don't like to get behind and when things are due I like to have them in early. Because of this, there are many times I feel guilty when I am not doing some sort of work. In the back of my mind I can hear the voice telling me, "You really should be writing a reflection", or "Why aren't you doing the next module for the on-line course?" I can't wait to put that voice to bed!!!!! I really am looking forward to getting this last semester rolling.