Moving On...

My kids have been blogging in English 101 for the last two weeks. They seem to really like the process and are doing a good job with the assignments. This has also cut down on the amount of valuable class time we would have previously spent going over and picking apart homework readings. This is certainly a plus.

I'm still working the kinks out of the blog posts for my Creative Writing class. They didn't really seem to get it the first time, especially the importance of the peer feedback. They were more than willing to share their original pieces, but they did not take much time to respond to each other's writing. We are practicing a workshop approach to revise and improve some of their original pieces this week, and their second blog post is due Friday. I think that after participating in workshop, they will have a better understanding and appreciation for peer feedback. At least, that's what I hope.

This week, I've tried some new things and am in the process of implementing more technology. I guess I'm taking baby steps, but I'm working on it. In addition to blog posts, I've asked my English 101 students to respond to some questions and each other for an upcoming Socratic Seminar. I'm using the same blog space that we use for our reader's responses, but hopefully, this will generate a more authentic conversation about the reading on which the seminar is based.

The project I'm really excited about was inspired by Sara Kadjer's Bringing the Outside In. While I would love to use the Digital Storytelling within my English 101 Narrative section, I am severely limited by the college's requirements and expectations for the course...This is an issue I will discuss in future blog, however. Back to the excitement...

I gave a benchmark test during the first week of my AVID Literacy class (HSAP Prep) using the USA Test Prep software. From the test results, I found that my students were weak in the areas of research and writing. However, all of my students appear to be avid readers, certainly a plus for me. As a result, I have decided to incorporate a "technology project" into the class which will use their reading advantage and attempt to improve some of their research and writing weaknesses.

I'm calling the activity a Book Talk Commercial. Students will use Windows Movie Maker or PhotoStory3 to create commercials based on the books they are reading for SSR in class. I'm in the process of creating a model project now using PhotoStory. Using Chapter Two of Kadjer's Bringing the Outside In as a guide, I'm focusing on the content rather than the technology. I have given students a planning guide already, and they must complete the content section of the project before beginning the construction of the commercial using the technology. To quote one of Kadjer's students, I don't want my students to learn "a technology," I want them to use "a technology to learn."

My goal is for students to encourage and sell their favorite SSR books to fellow students as we work toward not just success on a state assessment,but also long-term improvement in reading, writing, research, and communication skills. I'll let you know how it goes...