Background
During second semester, I will be teaching two courses during the same hour and in the same space: Introduction to Theater and Theater Arts. In order to help me better manage the running of these two classes and groups at the same time, I am using Moodle to create a "blended" learning format that mixes traditional and online, digital literacies.
Why Moodle?
During this course, I've come to realize that there are so many amazing digital tools available for educators to use as course management tools. I have seen excellent examples of webpages, wikis, and of course our own course Ning that blend the traditional classroom learning with online learning and digital writing to great effect. I would have really liked to explore using a Ning to manage these theater classes, however my district uses and supports Moodle, so that's what I'm going to use. the district also blocks Ning for students on the basis that it is essentially a social networking platform. So there goes that. :)
Organization
When a Moodle course is created, it is created with a specific organizational template already in place. At CHS, it is organized automatically by topic, meaning that each box or module could theoretically contain materials and activities related to a specifictopic or unit. Since that was how the courses usually came to me, I just assumed that was the only option I had. Since I began putzing around the course to learn more about my option, i discovered that there are several organizational options. In addition to the topic view, I could also use an organizational model that assigns each box or module a week out of the school year. I did seriously consider transferring to that model. The site would more closely resemble a traditional college syllabus and might be easier for the students to navigate. The major downside at this point however is that I have never taught either of these classes before and therefore have no idea exactly how long certain units, lessons, or projects will take. Additionally, I want to be able to respond flexibly to the needs of my students; we may need to spend extra time on top of what I planned to really cover particular topics or skills. Using a week-by-week model could get messy when I'm trying to keep up with students and the Moodle at the same time. If I organize by topic, I can upload all of my assignments, instructions, and multimedia ahead of time and reveal them as the students are ready for them without moving them all over the place.
Digital Writing Features on a Moodle
There are a number of digital writing opportunities available within a Moodle. For example, I created a recurring chat in the first module that I will use for online office hours. With two classes meeting at the same time, it is very likely that I will not be able to make it to all kids during class to answer questions By using the Chat, students can connect with me outside of the classroom to get their questions answered. Another option is the forum I created in the Intro to Theater/Theater History module in the Intro to Theater class. In the forum, I asked to students to watch this video of Stephen Sondheim's "Invocation and Instructions to the Audience" from his musical The Frogs. Then, I asked them to reflect and write about their experiences attending or participating in live theater. I asked them to post their writing as a new discussion, and then go out and respond to two other classmates' posts. I think this will be a simple but effective way to introduce the idea of reflection, sharing, and providing feedback. Students are also given a blog within the Moodle course, and I will likely use those to have students post journals and such. Eventually, when we get to the performance pieces of the course, I can create forums where students can share scripts they've written, designs they've created, or videos of performances or rehearsals for feedback.
Final Thoughts
I know there is a lot yet that I have to figure out and this is a huge undertaking, but I believe the pay-off for both the students and I will be well worth the effort. I'm excited to see how this works. When I get a few extra moments this spring (HA!), I'll come back here and reflect on how it's all going. Until then, take care and best of luck!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Using Online Portfolios
Well, here we are at the end. It's the end of the class, but also the end of my Masters program. Hooray! I made it!
As such, it feels like a highly appropriate time to think about portfolios and ways of demonstrating my growth and development over the last several years. I spent some time checking out the resources on the wiki. I really enjoyed the site that discussed the different purposes for creating a portfolio. I think that's a very important piece to consider. I actually chatted with my building tech person about it, and he agreed that the tool you used would definitely be determined by your purpose. I think a blog would be a great tool for showing growth--if a person started at the beginning of a process, he or she could post all of his or her products and reflect on each of the products using the comments section. I think wikis would be better suited for showcasing a body of work. As my tech guy said, a wiki feels more like a product. I know it can be used as more than that, but I see his point. I also find wikis a little bit easier to organize, particularly the pages and the ease with which one can link to other pages.
In looking at my own blog as a portfolio, I think someone could definitely see growth from me as an educator. Some of my earliest posts are from my Tech for Educators class that I took in 2008. It was the first time I had ever worked with many of these tools, like blogs or wikis, and I was a little overwhelmed and frustrated with the learning curve. Fast forward 2 years, and I'm embedding videos, creating podcasts, and writing digital poetry! I still get a little overwhelmed, but I'm more used to that feeling now, and I have adopted a "this too shall pass" attitude toward my frustration. It's actually a good reminder that everyone gets frustrated when trying new things--it helps me remember what it's like to be one of my students, trying things for the first time. :) I also think that I'm getting better at using digital tools for specific purposes, rather than just to use them. One big change I see in myself is my willingness to try new digital ideas. I used to be a little nervous about trying different tools, but now I know that I just have to jump in and try. If it bombs, it bombs--back to the drawing board to figure out what went wrong and how to make it better for next time. Moving forward, I think the biggest thing I need to do is not stop trying. Even though I won't be in Masters classes where tech is required, I still need to keep trying new things. Everything is changing SO quickly that to stop, even for a moment, puts you miles behind the pack. I plan to keep working with my building tech guy and taking classes when I can. Continuous, lifelong learning is the goal. :)
I'm very likely going to use portfolios for my Theater classes next semester. Since the class is quite literally a performance class, much of their work is going to be performance-based. E-Portfolios will work perfectly. Not only will kids be able to share journals, sketches, designs, and other written work, they'll also be able to share their performance work as well by recording and posting their performances. Students will have projects or performances for each of the units in the class, so a portfolio for the theater class would feature their final/best work for each unit, plus self-reflections on their work. I really liked this rubric that you linked to on the wiki as a basis for evaluating the portfolio. I would change some of the language since this rubric seems to address portfolios created by teachers, but other than that, I think it covers everything quite well.
Lastly, I have learned so much this semester that it's difficult to pick out just a few things--I want to do it all! :) However, as the saying goes, slow and steady wins the race. The two things I can see myself using the most are the podcasts and the vlogs. I've detailed in previous posts how I'd like to use the podcasting and vlogging tools to help both my 9th graders with their public speaking and my theater kids with their performances. As I mentioned in the last paragraph, I can also see myself using digital writing tools to help students create portfolios of their work.
I'll post again soon with my fial project information... using Moodle to help manage two classes meeting simultaneously in the same space. Second semester is going to be interesting.... :)
As such, it feels like a highly appropriate time to think about portfolios and ways of demonstrating my growth and development over the last several years. I spent some time checking out the resources on the wiki. I really enjoyed the site that discussed the different purposes for creating a portfolio. I think that's a very important piece to consider. I actually chatted with my building tech person about it, and he agreed that the tool you used would definitely be determined by your purpose. I think a blog would be a great tool for showing growth--if a person started at the beginning of a process, he or she could post all of his or her products and reflect on each of the products using the comments section. I think wikis would be better suited for showcasing a body of work. As my tech guy said, a wiki feels more like a product. I know it can be used as more than that, but I see his point. I also find wikis a little bit easier to organize, particularly the pages and the ease with which one can link to other pages.
In looking at my own blog as a portfolio, I think someone could definitely see growth from me as an educator. Some of my earliest posts are from my Tech for Educators class that I took in 2008. It was the first time I had ever worked with many of these tools, like blogs or wikis, and I was a little overwhelmed and frustrated with the learning curve. Fast forward 2 years, and I'm embedding videos, creating podcasts, and writing digital poetry! I still get a little overwhelmed, but I'm more used to that feeling now, and I have adopted a "this too shall pass" attitude toward my frustration. It's actually a good reminder that everyone gets frustrated when trying new things--it helps me remember what it's like to be one of my students, trying things for the first time. :) I also think that I'm getting better at using digital tools for specific purposes, rather than just to use them. One big change I see in myself is my willingness to try new digital ideas. I used to be a little nervous about trying different tools, but now I know that I just have to jump in and try. If it bombs, it bombs--back to the drawing board to figure out what went wrong and how to make it better for next time. Moving forward, I think the biggest thing I need to do is not stop trying. Even though I won't be in Masters classes where tech is required, I still need to keep trying new things. Everything is changing SO quickly that to stop, even for a moment, puts you miles behind the pack. I plan to keep working with my building tech guy and taking classes when I can. Continuous, lifelong learning is the goal. :)
I'm very likely going to use portfolios for my Theater classes next semester. Since the class is quite literally a performance class, much of their work is going to be performance-based. E-Portfolios will work perfectly. Not only will kids be able to share journals, sketches, designs, and other written work, they'll also be able to share their performance work as well by recording and posting their performances. Students will have projects or performances for each of the units in the class, so a portfolio for the theater class would feature their final/best work for each unit, plus self-reflections on their work. I really liked this rubric that you linked to on the wiki as a basis for evaluating the portfolio. I would change some of the language since this rubric seems to address portfolios created by teachers, but other than that, I think it covers everything quite well.
Lastly, I have learned so much this semester that it's difficult to pick out just a few things--I want to do it all! :) However, as the saying goes, slow and steady wins the race. The two things I can see myself using the most are the podcasts and the vlogs. I've detailed in previous posts how I'd like to use the podcasting and vlogging tools to help both my 9th graders with their public speaking and my theater kids with their performances. As I mentioned in the last paragraph, I can also see myself using digital writing tools to help students create portfolios of their work.
I'll post again soon with my fial project information... using Moodle to help manage two classes meeting simultaneously in the same space. Second semester is going to be interesting.... :)
Sunday, December 12, 2010
My podcast: Using Vocal Variety--Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
Here's my podcast. I decided to go with my original idea to demonstrate the difference between interpreting a piece with and without vocal variety.
I really liked working with Audacity. It was very easy to use, although I didn't try to do anything particularly complex with it. I'm sure I could do cooler stuff after tinkering around with it for a bit.
I think it will be helpful for kids to hear themselves read a text. I even noticed things that I didn't realize I was doing when I listened to myself. Very, very cool tool!
I really liked working with Audacity. It was very easy to use, although I didn't try to do anything particularly complex with it. I'm sure I could do cooler stuff after tinkering around with it for a bit.
I think it will be helpful for kids to hear themselves read a text. I even noticed things that I didn't realize I was doing when I listened to myself. Very, very cool tool!
Idea for podcast...
Some ideas for podcasting...
1. The entire second semester of 9th grade English is a speech class. Students are required to do several small, medium, and large speeches throughout the semester. One of the major speeches is an oral interpretation of a children's story, tv show, movie scene, etc. The purpose of the speech is to help students develop their delivery skills: pace, pitch, volume, vocal variety, etc. The students are videotaped and are then required to watch themselves and complete a self-evaluation. I think that before I get to that point, I could use podcasting/audio recording to demonstrate what vocal variety looks and sounds like. I could record myself reading a children's story with very little variety and then with the right amount of variety. using the audacity or GarageBand software, I can actually show the studens to soundwaves and inflections and tec as they listen. They can then record themselves practicing and look at their own patterns in the soundwaves etc. I think that would be WAY more effective than me just telling them over and over. :)
2. This is very similar to #1, except I could do it with my theater kids. I could record them performing monologues in order to discuss their rate, inflection, diction, interpretation, etc.
3. One of the books we read is A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. The story is about Beah's time as a child soldier in Sierra Leone during their civil war in the late 90's. Beah was eventually extricated from the war by Unicef and rehabilitated in camps set up specifically for child soldiers. It would be really cool to have the kids research the isue of child soldiers and the different groups and organizations that are working to help rehabilitate child soldiers and then put together a podcast to share that information. Sort of like a radio program. That would be an awesome project! :)
1. The entire second semester of 9th grade English is a speech class. Students are required to do several small, medium, and large speeches throughout the semester. One of the major speeches is an oral interpretation of a children's story, tv show, movie scene, etc. The purpose of the speech is to help students develop their delivery skills: pace, pitch, volume, vocal variety, etc. The students are videotaped and are then required to watch themselves and complete a self-evaluation. I think that before I get to that point, I could use podcasting/audio recording to demonstrate what vocal variety looks and sounds like. I could record myself reading a children's story with very little variety and then with the right amount of variety. using the audacity or GarageBand software, I can actually show the studens to soundwaves and inflections and tec as they listen. They can then record themselves practicing and look at their own patterns in the soundwaves etc. I think that would be WAY more effective than me just telling them over and over. :)
2. This is very similar to #1, except I could do it with my theater kids. I could record them performing monologues in order to discuss their rate, inflection, diction, interpretation, etc.
3. One of the books we read is A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. The story is about Beah's time as a child soldier in Sierra Leone during their civil war in the late 90's. Beah was eventually extricated from the war by Unicef and rehabilitated in camps set up specifically for child soldiers. It would be really cool to have the kids research the isue of child soldiers and the different groups and organizations that are working to help rehabilitate child soldiers and then put together a podcast to share that information. Sort of like a radio program. That would be an awesome project! :)
My Flickr SlideShow
Here's my slideshow from Flickr.
When I was searching for images, I used the term "family." In class right now, we're reading a novel about a young woman who finds out she's adopted and goes in search of her birth parents. One of the underlying themes in the novel is nature versus nurture: Is Sandy (the main character) who she is because of her genes/birth parents or is she who she is because of her adoptive parents? Sandy struggles with the question of her identity because she discovers there's a piece of it she never knew existed.
I think it might be cool to show students a collection of family pictures from different eras and have them write creatively about how the families might have worked and functioned as a group of individuals and how hey influenced and shaped each other's character and development. Then, the students could move from there to writing about how their own families shape them.
When I was searching for images, I used the term "family." In class right now, we're reading a novel about a young woman who finds out she's adopted and goes in search of her birth parents. One of the underlying themes in the novel is nature versus nurture: Is Sandy (the main character) who she is because of her genes/birth parents or is she who she is because of her adoptive parents? Sandy struggles with the question of her identity because she discovers there's a piece of it she never knew existed.
I think it might be cool to show students a collection of family pictures from different eras and have them write creatively about how the families might have worked and functioned as a group of individuals and how hey influenced and shaped each other's character and development. Then, the students could move from there to writing about how their own families shape them.
My VoiceThread
Here is my VoiceThread. I just used pictures of me, my friends, my family, and other images of things and places I love. I guess this provides a little insight into who I am! :) I also thought that VoiceThread was REALLY easy to use. I had no problem figuring out how everything worked. It would be really cool as a creative writing exercise to put a really interesting picture into VT and have students comment on it or narrate the thoughts of the people in the picture. :)
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