Mr. Gonzalez's Classroom - Latest Comments

Re: 6th Graders Finishing Water Quality

Alfonso (Al) Gonzalez — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:25:23 -0000

That's awesome, Will! It's nice to find people who are involved with water through our work! If you wouldn't mind and could spare the time, please read some of the kids' blogs and leave them some feedback through comments:
http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=4771&assignmentid=13345

Re: How to Make Social Networking Work

Alfonso (Al) Gonzalez — Wed, 09 May 2012 10:37:30 -0000

Thanks, Lori. I often feel like those who spin plates on poles. The more plates I start spinning the more that start slowing down and falling (and breaking)! I have two philosophies that motivate me, 1) different methods will work with different students/classes, and 2) I do think it's a good idea to expose kids to different technologies and how they can use them to learn, which will one day be to do business. Those two philosophies keep me going. :o)

Re: How to Make Social Networking Work

Lysoccer — Wed, 09 May 2012 00:30:11 -0000

Hi Alfonso,
It is quite interesting that you just posted this blog. After perusing your website, I was just about to email you on how in the world you manage all of this technology in the classroom and how you keep students motivated and participating. I was amazed you had a blog, a FB account, and other sources that were readily available.

Thank you so much for sharing. I am very inspired by all of your posts.

Best,
Lori

Re: How to Make Social Networking Work

Alfonso (Al) Gonzalez — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:14:46 -0000

Thanks for the feedback, Catlin! I will definitely start differently next year. It's so good to hear that it can work. It's just as I thought, the students need more practice using a social network in ways they are really not used to. :)

Re: How to Make Social Networking Work

Catlin Tucker — Tue, 08 May 2012 13:53:43 -0000

Hi Alfonso,

I also use Collaborize Classroom and have had a lot of success with it.

It is important to make a distinction, as you did, about the difference between social networking outside of class for socializing and using a discussion site like Collaborize Classroom to engage in academic conversations. Academic dialogue is a new skill for many students, so I found I really needed to teach them the “dos and don’ts” of communicating online, as well as how to say something substantial in a conversation in the early stages. An increasing number of college students are taking online courses or participating in discussion boards to complement lectures, which means students need to know how to participate respectfully, supportively and substantively in online conversations.

I used Collaborize Classroom to replace and improve 75% of my traditional pen and paper homework assignments. I did not want to add to my workload, which was already overwhelming. Instead, I posted discussion topics related to the literature we were reading to spark discussions. It was so much more rewarding to see them engage online because they were forced to really develop their ideas, make connections and ask questions. Instead of reading 150+ handouts that say basically the same thing, I actually had students surprising me with their insights.

If you are using a site like Collaborize to go paperless or replace traditional assignments, then I would suggest you post the topics for student to discuss. If students know that the work online is replacing pen and paper work, then they will probably be content addressing your questions. This way you can design dynamic questions that utilize the different question types (variety keeps them interested…my kids love debates and ability to vote for their favorite contributions with vote and suggest), embed relevant media (great for flipping classroom with online discussions) and set expectations for participation (e.g. “once you have posted your response, read and reply to at least 2 other members of the class”).

Once you have modeled what strong questions look like, it can be a nice evolution to allow students to begin designing their own discussion topics. I usually design all the discussion topics in 1st semester so students can focus on getting used to the online space and engaging with each other in a meaningful way. Then at the start of second semester, I have each students design a discussion question for a unit. It is easiest if you group them in smaller groups for this so that each member of the group can design a question for a unit. My units are usually 5-6 weeks so a group of 5 or 6 can each design one question. This way I can read and approve each question while giving students feedback on their design…it is hard to write a dynamic discussion question so they need coaching.

The good news is that by the final unit of the year (literature circles) the students are designing all the questions and facilitating all of the discussions. I love that Collaborize supports this evolution to mastery, but it does take a great deal of support. I talk a lot about this slow progression of integrating technology in my book on blended learning. It is definitely a new skill set for us as teachers and for them as students!

Good luck. Don't get discouraged. We need to be patient with ourselves when we begin integrating technology into our traditional curriculum.

Catlin

Re: 6th Graders Finishing Water Quality

Will — Mon, 07 May 2012 06:08:17 -0000

It's great to find this information. As a person who is directly involved in water and wastewater projects, I'm always on the lookout for new information. Somehow at least I know there are people who are sharing the same interest like myself.

Cheers
Will

Re: Assembly sans Awards

Alfonso (Al) Gonzalez — Sun, 06 May 2012 22:35:00 -0000

Our April assembly was hosted by our ASB. They returned to our traditional awards assembly. All honor roll students were called up, as well as students of the month and students chosen by teachers to receive responsibility awards (I think that was the theme). Our 7th and 8th grade band performed for us and the ASB put together a slideshow with great pictures of our school mix it up at lunch activities.

Kids seemed to enjoy the assembly.

Re: iPads vs Netbooks

knowledgenotebook — Sat, 05 May 2012 08:48:07 -0000

Ok, I thought, buying such a device is considered an investment, sort of like an education... hence, one may put up with the price. In the meantime, if it's just for kids under 13 something, laptop may be overkill...

Re: iPads vs Netbooks

Alfonso (Al) Gonzalez — Sat, 05 May 2012 02:32:58 -0000

Yes! I totally forgot battery life! Thank you. :)

Re: iPads vs Netbooks

Alfonso (Al) Gonzalez — Sat, 05 May 2012 02:32:29 -0000

Ooh, weighing the importance of each item is a great idea. That will require more thought and reflection.

The only reason I didn’t consider laptops in general was the cost. Netbooks that I have here and the iPads are of similar cost each within the $500 range. Anything within that range would work.

Re: Student Discipline

Alfonso (Al) Gonzalez — Sat, 05 May 2012 02:30:34 -0000

Chris, as always your words have helped. I love the idea, maybe Reeves, that the work must be done! That’s basically what it boils down to. Kids are in school to learn but learning and success and accomplishment and advancement and growth, all the things I think every adult wants for their children, comes through work. Effort and work. One of the teachers I work with here and I agree that what we are asking of our students is for an effort, a good effort, an honest effort. The adjective can vary but effort in the form of work is what we want for our kids.

So I will take your advice and stay the course. It’s a good course and I really just wanted to hear that it’s a good course to stay on. Thanks for that.

Re: Student Discipline

Alfonso (Al) Gonzalez — Sat, 05 May 2012 02:30:16 -0000

Hard work to manage such change but it is the epic battle worth fighting!

Re: Student Discipline

Chris Wejr — Tue, 01 May 2012 19:48:59 -0000

Hey buddy... love the public reflection. I continue to have many of these thoughts. I know what is best for kids yet I do not always have the resources (time, people) to do it. The key for me is to have clear expectations and hold kids to this (while including them in the reasoning) and have those relationships. With the current structures of timetables, class size, etc, forming relationships with ALL your students may be very tough.... so start small. Form relationships with as many as you can... you can only do so much. Always ask the question "am I doing this for me or am I doing this for the students?". I cannot remember who said it (might have been Douglas Reeves when talking about the harm of giving zeros) but it was - if you make a reasonable assignment, the most effective consequence of not doing the work... is doing the work! To me, this can be viewed as a punishment or it can be viewed as an expectation that the learning activity needs to be completed.

You have summed up the inner conversations that many of us have... we are lucky in BC not have the testing and data collection pressures that you have. My only advice to you is... stay the course. You are asking the right questions and challenging yourself to do the right things. There will be many times when we do not have the resources to do what we want... so we just have to do all we can... as we add more strategies to our toolboxes... maybe we will have more options. Use Greene's ideas as a starting point to ask questions and build something that works for your classes. Hopefully one day the structures will change so teachers don't just see students for 50 minutes every (sometimes other) day.

Hope my ramblings helped... a bit. It helped me to reflect so thanks for providing the venue! :-)

Re: iPads vs Netbooks

knowledgenotebook — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:00:38 -0000

Weigh the importance of each attribute. For instance, if students are expected to input their own thoughts/ideas upon reading/watching a topic, (the attribute of ease of data input).

Also, consider laptop as well, which is mobile too.

Re: iPads vs Netbooks

Ian H. — Tue, 01 May 2012 11:21:39 -0000

I would include battery life in any discussion of mobile devices. I love my netbook, but even with improvements in battery life in the last year, they're still power hogs compared to the ARM-based tablet processors. You're going to be able to get a full day of use out of pretty much any modern mobile tablet (setting aside Win7 tablets for the moment) versus maximum 5 hours on a netbook.

Re: Student Discipline

Gabriella Ashford — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:48:26 -0000

Totally Inspiring talk! "The only constant in the universe is "change." And kids need a teacher dynamic enough to manage it!

Re: iPads in Science

Andyconner — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:27:36 -0000

Thanks for your post! Very useful tips! Welcome to online wholesale laptop battery shop. http://www.laptopsbatteryshop....

Re: My ClamCase Experience

Pdmcdonald58 — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 09:43:47 -0000

Hi
I am having exactly the same problem.
I bought a white Clamcase last November and I think Ichargednit twice between then & last week.
Now I have to charge it every day.
I love the Clamcase as it turns the ipad into a laptop. It is sturdy, well made, shuts well, sits on the lap & worked really well. But now, I don't know what to do. I live in Australia & it cost me a lot to get it as Clamcase wouldn't post it to me & I had to use an international forwarding agent that cost me $75.
Now, although I love it, I think I will have to buy something dioffernet if I can't rely on it.
I also have a ZaggFolio, which I decided was the next best thing. Incidentally it was so easy to buy this internationally, just click the purchase button & it arrived three days later & it still works 6 months later.
The drawback - it just isn't as integrated & secure feeling as the Clamcase.

Re: Two Sides to Testing

Gabriella Ashford — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:59:11 -0000

My kids and I recently watched "Hunger Games." We picked 10 characters out of the game and ranked them on a scale of 1-10. For example, the kids who dove for the ammo's in the early part of the game, took the "easy way out." They immedietely got killed, so their skills were ranked as "level 1". On the other end of the scale was the winner of the games, Katniss, who showed cunning, flexibility, humanity etc... She ranked as a level 10.

We then turned these rankings or "levels"(1-10) into our own "Hunger Games" in Science.
1 being, "taking the easy way out" (this can be specific - like having mom help you spell a word instead of looking it up yourself.) 10 being self motivated, neat, organized (specifically finding several resources by yourself, referencing them correctly, writing neatly, using books and online media and organizing them neatly with photos and drawings in notebooks and blogs.)

The fatal flaw in Standardized Testing is revealed in Hunger Games. Kids are motivated by passions that are unique to each individual's story. With all the variables that life delivers, It is impossible to imagine that a multiple choice, once a year test reveals anything to anyone. Fortunately, the internet is willing to deliver us to the promised lands.

If our children's education ultimately goes digital, my sole hope is that we turn our educators into mentors. If we can do this one thing, then I believe that it (the digital era) will have all been worth it.

What I experience now though, is that instead of those amazing teachers becoming mentors, they are becoming administrators. Administators who are slaves to a system designed to quantify, not qualify. To turn our teachers into mentors, reporting must be handled daily by programs like IXL or ALEX and learning done through video's like Math-U-See or Youtube. This frees up the teachers, and the students then get the mentors that they really need to be the champions of their unique visions: "Let the Games Begin!"

(Ella 10, Nathaniel 7, and Everest 6, recently watched Hunger Games after attending their first Washington State Science and Engineering Fair. At the fair, they were amazed at the kinds of projects kids had worked on. However, the defining point for the children had been finding mentors and adults who were willing to share their work and participate the children's projects.)

Re: Beyond the Textbook?

Alfonso (Al) Gonzalez — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 02:51:37 -0000

Tests? What is the future of tests? What do the tests of the 21st century look like? I prefer having students create or write to show what they've learned.

Re: Do Grades Help or Hinder Learning?

Daniel — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:09:22 -0000

Great article! Glad to see you look at things from the point of view of the people being served, the "customer" a.k.a the student, which is easily overlooked

Re: Beyond the Textbook?

Gabriella Ashford — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 04:04:36 -0000

To see what textbooks have become, you must see Imax's SeaRex at the Pacific Science Center. Imax is the future textbooks. We just need to write the tests....

Re: A Plea for Education

maren_johnson — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 20:49:11 -0000

Hi Al,
Thanks for helping to spread the word about these issues!

Re: My ClamCase Experience

Alfonso (Al) Gonzalez — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 17:29:34 -0000

I know. I really loved my clamcase. Now it's in a drawer and I don't even use it. It's useless without a decent battery.

Re: My ClamCase Experience

Samispt1189 — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 05:39:37 -0000

Battery life on clam case is the only drawback. My battery completely died after about three weeks. I think if you charge it longer than 90 minutes (I used to charge mine over night) you destroy the battery.