Backchanneling and Socratic Seminar

I've written two posts (here and here) before on using Edmodo as a backchannel for student conversation during lessons. I discovered TodaysMeet in my twitter feed today and I've started thinking about backchanneling again.  Right now I'm locked into the READ180 progam, so I'm trying to figure out how I can incorporate these idea into that model. I definitely plan on using the ideas here when we do The Lightning Thief as a full-class read toward the end of the semester.


On Levels of Questioning
I think a big part of active engagement with a text is the ability to write the same types of questions the instructor of a class would ask about a given text. To really get students into a Socratic seminar, have them generate their own questions that will be used. There's something to be said for ownership when it comes to what students do and don't remember. Here is a link to the post I wrote this summer about levels of questioning.


On the Socratic Seminar:
These are the guidelines we received at the Advanced Placement Summer Institute I attended this summer. They are pages 54-55 in Ayn's handbook (pdf).

 

Backchanneling and Socratic Seminar
There are a few things I know about myself as a student. First, when I'm taking notes by hand, I am less engaged whatever discussion is going on around me because I'm so caught up in getting all of my notes on the page. I also know that if I'm not engaged somehow, whether it be note-taking by hand, on twitter, or live blogging, I am more likely to let my mind wander during class. Do I honestly expect anything different from my students? Hardly.


In theory, the students in the outer circle (if you're taking the fishbowl approach to Socratic Seminar) are paying attention to the conversation occurring in the inner circle. They might be paying a little more attention if they wrote the questions the inner circle is answering, but as a student, that still wouldn't actively engage me. I propose a way* to further involve outer circle students in the seminar. (Note: I realize this will be a more of a distraction for some students than others.)

Have the outer circle students take live, electronic notes via backchannel about the inner circle's conversation. They can make note of interesting things people say, aspects of/places in the text that they referenced to answer particular questions, and offer brief commentary on their peers' conversation. When I was reading about Google Wave and its uses in education, people discussed using Wave for collective note taking. Using Edmodo, Twiducate, or TodaysMeet for backchanneling does the same thing. This frees up the inner circle to concentrate more on their conversation and less on taking any notes they would otherwise take. With collective note taking, the outer circle students are more likely to commit more of the conversation's ideas into notes. It also allows students to pay enough attention to the conversation that they can redirect the inner circle by asking different questions as the opportunities arise (assuming the discussion questions are mostly provided by the students). Copy conversation and post to blog or wiki to refer to later.

*Originally I had two different (albeit similar) ways to approach this, but as I was typing decided that this was the better of the two.

Comments? Suggestions? Bugs you see in the system? All thoughts are welcome. :-)

Facebook Snags

I did a dry run of the facebook project that I've talked about here and here and that David talks about here, on Monday in my college class. What I learned from the dry run is that editing templates in Google Docs isn't super user-friendly. Needless to say, I was disappointed and needed to go back to the drawing board. So I thought to myself, "Okay. I can post a PowerPoint version of the template, and groups and download/upload their files to Google Docs and we still don't have the 'X has the USB and she's not here today,' problem."

Tried that today and come to find out that files cannot be uploaded to Google Docs through the laptop computers we were using, and they'll only send through Gmail if we're using the older version. So what I've resigned myself to doing is creating a conversation between the class email I set up and myself. They'll download their most recent file from the conversation and email it to me when they're done at the end of the class period.

In the end, teachable moment was about problem solving. An added bonus: most of my students don't have email addresses, so they'll learn how to attach a file before the get to the high school.

Final Thoughts on Skeleton Creek

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the novel as a whole, especially since my memories of the Blair Witch Project weren't the most pleasant. I am going to have to admit that I did get a little frightened by the story and decided that I'm wasn't going to read any right before bed, even though the story kept me engaged the entire time. This is another one of those titles (along with I, Q: Independence Hall and Quantum Prophecy: The Awakening, that I bought last year at the New Mexico Library Association Conference and just got around to reading).

I thought quite a bit about the difference the videos make to the story, and I came to the conclusion that it was the videos that pushed this novel to the edge of the thriller category. The only other author I've read that has made me feel that much nervous anxiety is Stephen King. I was completely freaked out when I read It.

When I was hunting for the videos, or rather, trying to get the website to work, I stumbled upon a couple other websites that are related to the Skeleton Creek universe. On the companion website, Sarah Fincher's webpage, there's a link to the Skeleton Creek Investigations fan page on Facebook. I was slightly surprised by this, though I shouldn't have been. I'm not an avid Facebook user--there are a few friends I keep track of through this interface, but it's not something I check regularly. Skeleton Creek Investigations has 4,867 fans. This may not seem like a huge number, but think about the viral influence of sites like Facebook and MySpace. 

The character Sarah Fincher has a MySpace page, but it hasn't been active since September 2009, which is near the time Ghost in the Machine was released. Unlike the Facebook group, Sarah Fincher's page only has 55 fans. Makes me wonder if kids are making the move away from MySpace and toward Facebook. Or the production people realized that the MySpace page didn't get many hits and moved their efforts toward Facebook, where there were more followers.

On the Skeleton Creek Is Real website, the author claims that Patrick Carman's book and the events therein really happened. I haven't had the opportunity to read through the blog that goes along with this website, but I plan to. I think the Skeleton Creek following is significantly bigger than the 4,867 people who are following on Facebook. I can't help but wonder if Skeleton Creek will have a following (possibly more short-lived) similar to the MuggleNet fandom for Harry Potter. Comments on Skeleton Creek include links to other sites of interest to fans of the show. One comment links back to the Facebook page, which apparently continues the story by giving clues to fans, and the fans have to figure out a piece to the puzzle. 

The final link that I found particularly interesting (and posted on my Twitter feed earlier this week) is Skeleton Creek Analytics. I couldn't find any information about the author of this website, but he took the passwords to the videos and analyzed the choices the author made in the context of the larger picture of the novel. I've read two of the postings thus far (and they're only for the first book so far) and the author makes some interesting connections. The site was only started a month ago, so I'm guessing the author isn't done yet. I'll be interested to see what else he has to say.

Carman did a fantastic job of keeping readers from one novel to the second. There is no resolution at the end of Skeleton Creek. In fact, the characters are left in the most precarious of predicaments that I'm going to get made fun of when my family and I travel to Las Cruces on Monday and I have to pick up the second book so I know what happens. So you'll be hearing about The Ghost in the Machine here soon, dear readers because I am a book addict and cannot help myself.

The final thing I'm interested in is how this book would play out as a read-aloud. Would the integration of video help hold the attention of reluctant readers? Many of mine didn't really care for When You Reach Me, and many of the novels that have recently made my Top 10 list are too long to function as good read alouds.

To Ning or not to Ning

Since I started working on my proposal for the French Award, I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out how to create blogs for my students that are protected--I know a number of teachers ask for outside comments on their students' blogs... I'm not there yet. I wanted to create self-contained community that included students from all four of my classes. The would be able to interact with each other and create a community of readers with common goals.

So I looked at Edublogs, Blogger, WikiSpaces, Wetpaint and PBworks and couldn't find exactly what I was looking for.

And then I checked one of my Nings and rediscovered that there are blogs built into this system. What this means is that I may not use Edmodo next year, which makes me sad. But in one interface, I have discussion boards, blogs, mail, a calendar, video (if my district will allow streaming) and photos. And it's organized in such a way that finding material will be a whole lot easier than before.

So I created a Ning called Reading Room 211 and have been playing with it. I mentioned it to my 4th hour students and they're a little miffed that they had me this year because next year sounds like more fun. One student even commented that he's jealous of his brother because his brother will probably get to do all the fun movie-making next year.

I wanted to get through the semester and use only one website, but I think I'm going to maintain a wiki and leave it open to the public. I've had problems with students downloading copies of assignments from Edmodo (I'll post the same PDF on Edmodo and on our wiki and it can only be opened from the wiki--no idea why). I'll keep a copy of the syllabus, assignments, and agendas there so they are viewable anytime by parents. Both the wiki and the ning will have the same title, so they should be fairly easy for my digital natives (who are really scared of new technology and being wrong) to remember.

Things I should consider about using a ning next year? Any thought is appreciated. I'm working on rules and guidelines now.

French Award Proposal

In the laundry list of things I had to have done by Tuesday, one of the most interesting was my proposal for the French Award. The French Award gives $5000 to a teacher to fund a project they're interested in incorporating into their class.

My project involves using video as a synthesis of student learning. The items I'd purchase to create my project are a Flip Video Camera, an Elmo Document Camera, 6 iPod Touches, a 1 TB external hard drive and somewhere in the neighborhood of 90 FollettBound novels (they're a little more expensive, but Follett will replace any damaged book for free, and kids can be pretty hard on books).

Here's a basic outline of the project--know that I'm pretty excited about this, and will probably try to do it even if I don't get it funded.

1.     Students will vote for one of six thematic: Natural Disasters, Self-Identity, Truth, Acceptance, Survival, and “Big” Issues. Based on their responses, a thematic unit and other related texts (readings, videos, music and art) will be chosen.

2.     Through mini-lesson, teacher created podcasts to be viewed in small groups on iPods, teacher guided practice, small group practice, reciprocal teaching and independent practice, students will learn about varied sentence structure, vocabulary, reading strategies and other elements of language arts as they are presented in their language arts classes. All of this knowledge will be incorporated into the script for the film they will produce at the end of the six weeks.

3.     Each week, students will compose a blog post (web host to be determined), reflecting on their learning, reflecting on their thoughts about the theme in terms of their personal experiences and their reading, and suggesting ways that their learning and connections can be incorporated into one of the six film categories (these categories will be used as tags for easy reference later, other categories will be added based on the theme selected):

a.     Anticipation—what we thought before we started reading

b.     What we read—short summaries of the novel text and other texts read, viewed or heard during the unit, what was learned from them, how they connect together and to the theme

c.     Visual Art—representation of the theme in an artistic way, either researched or student created

d.    Music—type, style, genre, specific examples that might fit the theme

e.     Film—People who think this theme is interesting might also want to see what movies? (Find trailers on YouTube)

f.      Where we ended up—our final thoughts and how our initial thoughts changed or stayed the same

4.     In the fourth week of the unit, students will be divided into specific production teams of no more than three students based on the categories listed above. Students will begin using their weekly blog reflections and the blog reflections of their peers to create a script for a 2-4 minute presentation on their category. During this time we will still continue to have reading and writing strategy, and vocabulary lessons.

5.     Each day in the fifth week of the unit, a group will present their script to the class using the document camera. They will solicit feedback from their peers on revision making notes on their copy as they go about what they should include that hasn’t been included, what can be removed, how to incorporate their vocabulary and writing/grammar into their script. The group will then take those suggestions and revise their script accordingly. They will spend time practicing their script, reading with fluency and expression.

6.     In the first three days of the last week in the six weeks, groups will record/create their portion of the presentation. Students can use video cameras, PowerPoint presentations saved as movies, Windows Movie Maker, scanners or any other necessary technology to create. All video or files will be saved on the external hard drive. Students who have had the technology class as an elective or who are interested in learning how to put together a film will come to my class during lunch to put together the pieces of the film.

7.     The second to last day of the unit will be a viewing of the films from each class. Students will be able to see how their peers in different classes synthesized their learning.

8.     The final day of the unit, students will write a blog post reflecting on what they learned about their theme, their thoughts on the film aspect of the project, what worked well for them and what didn’t, what else they’d like to learn and how we could work better as a community of readers and learners. We will use our blog posts as a springboard into class discussion and debriefing.

9.     At the end of the semester, all parents will be invited in for a Literacy Night were we will show the films students created to their parents and discuss student accomplishments fort he semester.

Wiki Anyone?

I just started a wiki for my class and I'm excited about it. There were a couple of reasons I decided to create a wiki:

• I love doing book talks, and I love that my students are reading. I think my students should have a forum to list/discuss/berate the books they've read, too.
• Students can look at the readings of their peers. So instead of a student coming to me and saying "Hey, Miss, what is Y reading?" (I got this question on Friday), the student instead goes to the wiki, clicks on the class period for the friend, and checks him/herself.
• Students can also see the thoughts of their peers. Each student, when finished with a reading, gets to rate the book with stars (the same scale used on Goodreads).
• A better way to keep track of what any given student is reading at any given time. I've tried making spreadsheets and keeping a written list of what each student is reading for the sake of continuity. Of finishing what you start or having a good reason to abandon.
• Create a community of readers. On Friday, they realized that the wiki is theirs. It's their space to reflect on their reading, and share it with others who are also inflicted with the curse that is my class. But they see that they're all in it together and that they're all reading. It may be different books and at different levels, but they're all reading and they're all sharing with each other.
• I realized that it's really hard to house everything in one website. I love Edmodo, don't get me wrong, but for this kind of tracking, Edmodo won't do it. By the same token, there are aspects of Edmodo that cannot be replicated in the wiki. So I'm resigned to have two websites and link them together. Next year, I think I'll make sure the usernames and passwords are the same for both.
• There is a teacher in Indiana that I'd like to collaborate with (we're teaching the same grade now and she says it's a must). Her technology situation is a little sketchy, so I wanted to come up with something that could be managed on whatever computer time they have.

So a whole host of reasons. What's great is that I introduced this on Friday, after their Edmodo assignment, and many of my students were concerned that they didn't complete their entries before shutdown time. I chuckled and assured them that we'd come back to this, and that we'd be updating the pages until the end of the semester. Then they'll be able to look back at what they've done and say, "Man, I accomplished something this semester." 

The frontpage of my students' wiki!

Kindle + iPhone = $259 in Savings

Okay, so I was putzing around on the iTunes App Store during my staff meeting this afternoon and came across the Amazon Kindle app for iPhone and iPod Touch. (Mom you should totally get this.) I've been thinking about how convenient a Kindle would be for the 12 hour trip I have from NM to IN next week, but this is definitely the better solution.

Previously, I was running Lexcycle's Stanza, which I've read is the best app for free eBooks. And you can wirelessly transfer books downloaded onto your computer to your handheld device. It supports Project Gutenberg and Planet eBook downloads, among others. I'm going to keep running Lexcycle's Stanza, if only because of the ease of transfer and the free books I've already downloaded and don't want to lose.

See, I do a lot of waffling. I love physical books. I like the way they feel. I like the way they smell. I like the sound they make when I pop a kid in the head with one. ;-) For me, paper books are much more practical, especially since I think it'd be significantly more difficult to lend books to students from my classroom library if I didn't have the physical thing. Goodness knows that if I lent one of them my iPod Touch, I'd probably not get it back in the same condition if I got it back at all.

From what I understand, though, the book prices on Amazon are lower than anywhere else. I was excited when I found Matt de la Pena's Mexican White Boy because it's been on my list for a while now. But I'd pay $10 for it on Kindle, then pay another $8 at least when I went to buy the paperback to go in my classroom. Gah. Maybe not so practical for me, but I've downloaded a bunch of books in the public domain, so it can't be all bad.

For J: On Feed and 1984

I enjoy the book conversations I have with people. These questions are for J, so he has a purpose for reading and some concrete things to think about as he goes. At some point, I'll record our discussion of these questions.

1. Consider the three party slogans from Orwell's 1984. Give your thoughts/reactions to each in the context of the novel and in the context of your own experience.
2. M.T. Anderson writes his novel to those who resist the feed. Who are those people? What do they look like in the context of today's society. What do they look like in the context of the novel? Are you one who resists the feed? Why or why not?
3. Explicate. Consider diction specifically. "You don't have the feed. You are the feed. You're feed. You're being eaten. You're raised for food" (202).
4. In what ways is the feed in Anderson's novel and Big Brother in Orwell's novel similar? Despite the obvious, how are they different? Given each context, which do you find more intrusive? Why?
5. Do you think we're moving toward a society resembling that of Feed or like that of 1984? Consider both the current consumer and political climates in your response.
6. In your mind, what does the idea of utopia look like? Think about the two novels you just read and the novels you read in AP last semester, like Huxley's Brave New World. Outline the virtues and flaws of each society. How do they measure up to your internalized concept of utopia?

Conformity and Lois Lowry's The Giver

Jonas asks, “What if we could hold up things that were bright red or bright yellow, and [Gabriel] could choose?” The Giver replies with “He might make wrong choices.”

Unlike novels like Brave New World, A Wrinkle in Time and 1984, the community in The Giver is small enough, and is allowed enough choice, that people do not realize that they are being controlled into Sameness. Camaztoz, is the most extreme in the examples of conformed societies, where all people operate on exactly the same time table. Like IT’s control of many worlds and his assertion that it is only to eliminate pain and choice, the community in The Giver and the choices that are made for the people are also designed to keep them from the pain of war, famine, etc. that Jonas receives as memories from the Giver.


That Gabriel might make the wrong choice when it comes to the color of a toy is inconsequential. The Giver challenges Jonas to think about the bigger picture, other wrong choices that Gabriel could make in the future, and Jonas acquiesces.

I felt like both the Giver and Jonas struggled with whether or not they saw the sameness that permeates the community as completely beneficial to the community, especially when it comes to the release of citizens.

Our discussion questions ask if we’ve ever made a wrong choice, if we’ve regretted having to choose. It may seem surface to many, my recent major choice that I have guilt about more than regret, is the choice of a mobile phone. My brother-in-law works for Verizon and I have AT&T. I was supposed to switch to Verizon—everyone in my family has a Blackberry. But that device didn’t and doesn’t make sense for me. I’m a Mac user and since last September have carried around my phone and my iPod because the functionality of my iPod was better suited for what I wanted in a device than my Blackberry. Do I regret buying an iPhone rather than switching to Verizon? Not really. I just have family members that make me feel bad for choosing what makes sense for me. I’m sure they could take a lesson from the community—I’m sure one of the rules must be not to lay guilt trips on people for indiscretions.


Lowry, L. (1993). The Giver. St. Paul, MN: EMC/Paradigm Publishing.

Science, Technology and Lois Lowry's The Giver

While The Giver may be considered a futuristic novel due to it’s utopian setting, the role of science and technology takes a back seat to the larger issues of conformity and euthanasia. There are few mentions of technological advances—one that makes all people see in shades of grey. We know this because the Giver tells Jonas that the red hair of his friend Fiona must drive the geneticists crazy since everyone is supposed to be the same.

We also learn about another Twelve who has made significant advances in the field of healing. But anymore than this—it’s not like other futuristic novels or films where the characters ride in hovercrafts or have gadgets that do everything for them. On the contrary, it seems that in technological advances as we would generally think of them, the community has regressed. All of its people ride bicycles and are communicated with via loudspeaker. Their existence is not electronic heavy as ours is.

Additionally, it seems that there are not many illnesses, if any, within the community. Another technological advance on the part of the geneticists. People are engineered in such a way that they do not have to deal with any pain and suffering.

In other futuristic novels, like A Wrinkle in Time, the real world is one where scientists have discovered how to fold time onto space. In my favorite futuristic novel, M.T. Anderson’s Feed, which deals with issues of consumerism, people ride the hovercrafts and the internet is internally hardwired into people from a young age. Neither of the worlds in these novels is particularly simplistic.

Anderson, M.T. (2002). Feed. Cambridge: Candlewick Press.
L’Engle, M. (1962). A Wrinkle in Time. New York: Dell Yearlilng.
Lowry, L. (1993). The Giver. St. Paul, MN: EMC/Paradigm Publishing.