I just came back from a full day of being intellectually stimulated at the Celebration of Teaching and Learning Conference in NYC. What an awesome experience! It was amazing to be among thousands of educators and administrators who were clearly excited about learning how to be better at what they do. I spoke to many different people this weekend, from many walks of life, and I was inspired to realize that we were all the same: we just want to carry out our 'mission' the best way we can.
One of the highlights of today's experience was to hear the plenary speaker, Sir Kenneth Robinson. If you haven't heard of him, stop what you are doing (and put it down b/c you soon will be falling on the floor laughing) and listen to the following video from a TED conference:

I’m excited about the fact that I am finally going to learn how to use Flash---a term I never thought I would ever have to use as a teacher. Being that I use my SmartBoard in nearly every lesson of the day, I constantly come across Flash games created by other teachers. I frequently wish that I could manipulate these games or create them myself! It’s always the case that every game/activity that I use ends up either missing information or providing content that I haven't taught. So, being that it is my last full semester as a grad student in TEAM, I am finally getting the chance to open the doors to the great big world of Flash.
First of all, what would I do with my new found knowledge? Here are several ways I might use Flash in my classroom this year: Following the ideas from the George Washington site, I would also create a similar task in the subject of science, specifically for the unit on light. I would have kids look at several paintings that illustrated the concept of light (with shadows, reflections, color..etc). On the paintings itself, kids would be able to click on several parts of the artwork, which would lead to learning more about how light affected the area they pointed to.
Another example of how I can use flash in the classroom is by using the technique found in the Tangram site. As an extension activity of my Geometry unit, I would create an activity where kids could manipulate quadrilaterals that they learned about to construct an image/illustration (only using those quadrilaterals or by using a specific # of shapes- 2 trapezoids, 3 squares…etc).
A third idea of mine of how to use flash in the class (hey, that rhymes--sort of!) was triggered by the Titanic site. In that site, visitors can click on an image to learn more about a specific person/event. Using this idea, I can envision teaching my students basic flash so that they themselves can create a 1 minute movie about a member of the Corps of Discovery (group that led the expedition out west in the early 1800s). Once complete, visitors to the site could click on a member of the expedition to find out more about them.I realize the countless possibilities that can come about with the knowledge of flash. I’m hoping I find the actual task of learning the program painless!

Wordle!

How cool does this look? I found this great Web 2.0 tool called Wordle, which allows you to create "clouds" similar to the ones found on del.icio.us. You can type in a bunch of words, which then randomizes the words into a cloud. There are many options/colors/fonts to choose from so you won't be disappointed. I learned the teaching strategy of 'wordsplash' back in my student teaching days, and this is a great tech remake of that. Wordsplash is an activity where you can preassess the students' prior knowledge of a particular topic. I usually put a poster on the wall/closet door and have kids write whatever word comes into mind when they look at the word on the poster (ex: Light, American Revolution, Spiders, Election...etc). This is a great way to understand what knowledge the kids are coming into the unit with. I plan to use this now as a new way of showing off my tech skills! :-)

My Face Should Really be on a Rubik's Cube...

I just read through Kathy Shrock's blog---so worth visiting! She wrote about a creative web2.0 tool called Dumpr that allows my face to be on a Rubik's cube! Dumpr is a really neat tool used to manipulate photos so that you can have your pictures placed in fun ways. The registration is free, and you can get an upgraded version with more choices for only $12 a year. I definitely recommend this site---check it out!
Create your own Rubik's Cube

Sorry Dr. Gardner---Not Here, Not Yet

As teachers, we are well aware and well-versed in Howard Gardener’s theory of seven intelligences….or are we? Going through a comprehensive teacher education program at SUNY Geneseo, I was told in most of my education classes about how individuals learn in multiple ways, and we as future teachers need to understand how to tap into all the multiple modalities. However, what I’ve always wondered since age twenty was: How am I going to teach this way if I’ve never been taught this way myself? By no means did I mean that I cannot teach in a different way than the way I was taught as a Catholic school student (where we saw the backs of our nuns more than the front). But how was I supposed to tap into ‘multiple intelligences’ if I only read about these seven types from a college textbook? Ten years later, I am still asking the same question.

So it came as no surprise to me when I read that the guru himself, Dr. Howard Gardner, did not believe educators were using his theory of multiple intelligences appropriately. Of course we’re not! We keep getting hit with buzzwords such as “differentiated instruction” and “multi-sensory”, but do not know exactly how to make sense out it all. What we do know what to make sense of is: No Child Left Behind. Teach to the test, administer tests, compare results so teachers know what to do the following year in order to get better results. It’s a sick cycle, and this type of curriculum does not allow for room to support the multiple intelligences theory.

Sorry, Dr. Gardner---not here, not yet.

In the meantime, the education system tries to ‘fit in’ this theory by teaching teachers how to create the ‘differentiated classroom’, where we must meet the levels of all our students all the time. How is this even possible? Yes, we have come a long way from the one-room schoolhouse, but we have a longer way to go. Dr. Gardner and other notable psychologists are correct in their findings about other intelligences, but we need to figure out how to appropriately implement their conclusions.

Podcast: Metacognition

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