[Integrated Learning Weekly] This week in the news...

I am exploring new ways to share updated information and news with my collegues. Here is my current method. It is a List.ly list that I am hoping to curate weekly. All of these links came from my own reading from my Feedly page, Twitter, and shared articles. I save these posts using Pocket, and it was easy to get them to post here. I am hopeful this works!

[Lesson Ideas] Magically Delicious

Here is a presentation I made to help me introduce the concept of Magic Realism at Young Writers Camp.  Feel free to use it, and all images and links should either go directly to the source, or have enough information to identify the source. Please also give appropriate credit to sources if you use this--it's the right thing to do.

Link to Magic Realism Presentation online

See also:

Imagine a Place by Sarah L. Thompson with the art of Rob Gonzalves 

Imagine a Day by Sarah L. Thompson with the art of Rob Gonzalves 

Imagine a Place by Sarah L. Thompson with the art of Rob Gonzalves 

If... by Sarah Perry

[Teaching Writing] Many Good Things A.K.A Fresh is the New Cool.

More specifically, 100 Good Things.

I discovered a new magazine recently.  I was drawn in by the cover (see photo to the left).  True, the word GOOD screams out at you.  This may have been the first thing I saw.  Additionally, the cover is made from a matte-artsy-mod-hipster material and I wanted to pick it up.  Once I did, the articles and ads were equally fascinating.

Even better, I found my first-day-back-at-school-super-cool-lesson idea within the non-glossy-hip-and-cool pages.

Today we began our own 100 Good Things list using this interactive list as our mentor text.

Some examples from the list that caught our eye:

• Gaming is the new teaching tool.
• Glitterbombing is the new yarnbombing.
• Supper Club is the new restaurant
• Touch is the new click
• Twitter Spoiler is the new TV Recap
• Doing is the new Talking
• AIRBNB is the new Craigslist
• Pie is the new cupcake

Here are the rough ideas from our list:

• Modern Warfare is the new Halo
• Green Lantern is the new Superman
• Dubstep is the new Techno
• iPad is the new iPod
• Teased hair is the new Bump-it
• Google Earth is the new Google Maps
• "Smile Bracelets" are the new "Silly Bands"
• Facebook is the new MySpace
• Google+ is the new Facebook
• Texting is the new calling
• Sears is the new Kmart
• Fresh is the new cool
• Astin Kucker is the new Charlie Sheen
• Takis are the new Flamin' Hot Cheetos
• Blu-Ray is the new DVD 

Just a little window into the souls of our next generation.  Some hopeful, some scary, yes?

[Teaching Art] Describing Chi

Yesterday I tried to start an art study on Chinese Calligraphy. As the turkey-butts would say, it was an epic fail. Middle school turkey butts are so very very literal, that they just weren't getting the... the... zen of the whole thing (maybe because "zen" is Japanese in origin?).  I knew that if I set them to work on calligraphy today, they would struggle, and shoot for perfection, and come up with passable pieces. I got into my tiny little head though, that I wanted them understand the concept of calligraphy as art. I wanted them to feel the chi, tap into the tao, think like Confucius. 

I heard about water calligraphy, but did not have any handy water calligraphy sets or access to a place to do water calligraphy (as we are not allowed outside of the fence until the neighboring school has gone home--more on that when I'm not pissy about it).  I also wanted to add a sensory element to the experience.  Enter... my super power of coming up with strange ideas at the drop of a hat....

I created four stations.  Each station had a large tray with a different substance on it.  The turkey-butts went around to each station (while I played interesting music), and... well... played in it.  

Dish Soap

Shaving Cream

Rice

Sand

After they tried each station, I gave them trays of their favorite medium and asked them to create a piece of art.

Then, I put five minutes on the clock, gave them white board markers, and had them write about it.  The little chi-brains went right to it.

Tomorrow I'll see how it goes with some actual calligraphy. We shall see if this goofy idea translates into some learning.

*NOTE--Yes, I teach art.  No, I am not an "art teacher."  I send my sincerest apologies to the art teachers in the world for attempting to teach it.  BUT, my turtle-doves NEED art in their lives, and there isn't anyone else to do it. 

[Vocabulary] A Distinguished Set of Explicit Words Guaranteed to Make You Guffaw

A very smart, very talented lady gave me this idea this Summer (Thank You to Mrs. R!) as a way to develop vocabulary skills. She is a word-lover from way back, and was able to cultivate this same passion in her kiddos by using something as simple as vocabulary cards. "Vocabulary cards?!?" you say?  Yes, vocabulary cards.  I would then say "not just any vocabulary cards," but I would be lying.  They kind of were any vocabulary cards.  The key is in how she incorporated them into her classroom.

I, of course, copied her. I didn't have any vocabulary cards, nor did my librarian, nor did my favorite used teacher-supply website. I did, however, have a binder full of magazine photos I had been gathering for...  hm... say 15 years?  Viola!  Vocabulary cards!

Following the structure taught to me by the fab-o Mrs. R, I present a new word by asking the schmoopies what they see in the picture. They eventually come around to an understanding of the word. Then we call on the Man on the White Horse to tell us the part of speech, keep track of antonyms and synonyms as they come up, and then each schmoopie writes a sentence to go on the back of the card. We agree on a non-verbal signal for the word (a motion or hand sign) and then we add it to our writing notebooks as a writing tool.  Once a new word has been welcomed, the kiddos are on the hunt.  They are starting to take pleasure in using the words in conversation, in their journal writing, and telling us about places they have seen or heard the words at home or on TV.  They have a smaller version of the word-lover sparkle I get when I learn something new.  I'm hoping this word-lover-sparkle grows over time.  To all of my wordie friends out there--I've got some new recruits!

Here are some of the card sets we've made this year.

As is typical for the schmoopies, they have made this their own protocol.  They are bringing in magazine pictures to use, and are offering up ideas for new words as they stumble upon them.  I'm forever delighted at their eagerness to learn and to be academic.  For many of them, prior to coming to our program they were identified by what they did not know, did not have, or could not do.  They are tickled pink to be identified by what they know or can do.  They run with it.  They teach me every day.

And another shout-out to the SDAWP SI for providing the place for me to learn this!

[Tech Tip] Storybird

I discovered this link today while on a teacher networking site called Edmodo (more on that later).  I'm still playing around with it, but will absolutely be using it this week.  I'm going to use it in art class though, and sneak the writing in.  Bwahahahaha.

From what I can tell so far, the site uses art collections by various artists.  I don't recognize the names, but there are short bios for each.  You use the collection of art to create a story--kind of a mix between a photo book and a postcard collection.

One issue  I see is that to print--either in a book or even as a PDF--there is a charge.  While I appreciate the site's need to sustain itself, $2 (a PDF is $1.99)  is a lot these days.  I'm hoping they send me some "free printing" deals.  I'm certain there are ways around the paid printing, but I'd like to respect the site and the legal issues of printing, ya know?  On the plus side, printing just wastes trees.  We can just have virtual books, right?

I'll share more as the stories get created! I started a story about a kid who flies. I think I can embed it below, but it looks like it might be slow to load.  Warning, I wrote this in five minutes. It's... how shall I say... lame-ish.



Fighting Dragons on Storybird

Notes From My Phone

As I have told you in person, I leave notes for myself on my phone--often while driving.  It is illegal, I suppose, since I use the keyboard and type them, but I typically save it for stoplights, and don't worry about spelling or anything.  Nearly always they are ideas for school or quite close to ideas for school.  Here are some notes I have left on my phone, their translation, and links to further information. 

Note: "Chickrnbig"

Saved on 11/13/10

Translation: Chicken Big

More Information: Chicken Big by Keith Graves.  This is a book that was read aloud on NPR the other day.    It was funny and cute, and I teach a fractured fairy tale lesson that requires lots of books of this type.  I'll admit, the read-aloud was not the strongest feature of the news story.  Mostly, I was drawn to the fact that the two men had so much fun reading it.  

Note: Hint fiction antholyy

Saved on 11/13/10
Translation: Hint Fiction Anthology (possibly Norton)
More Information: Hint Fiction by Robert Swartwood Also on NPR the other day (I was driving).  This is an anthology of stories that are written in 25 words or less.  I want to try this in my classroom, but also get the book.  I missed some of the stories because the guy speaking had a lot of spit in his mouth and I could hear it while he spoke.  I can't abide by that, so I had to turn it down.


Note: Wa init 1098 ca report.com
Saved on 11/1/10
Translation: Washington State Initiative 1098 (check California Report on NPR)
More Information:  This one is pretty clear.  I wanted to know more about this initiative.  Just because I wanted to know.

Note: SufarlAnd
Saved on 10/29/10
Translation: Sugarland
More Information: Someone I think is cool said this is good workout music.  I thought I would check it out.  I haven't yet.




Note: tone catchadores--everso
Saved on 10/23/10
Translation: Ummm... I can't figure it out yet.  Any ideas?

Note: areasontosurvive
Saved on 8/30/10
Translation: www.areasontosurvive.org
More Information: I am still looking into this.  It is a group I heard about and wanted to learn more.  It is a San Diego organization using art to reach children, or to help them heal.


Note: Josh damigo
Saved on 8/28/10
Translation: Josh Damigo (musician)
More Information: Josh Damigo has a poster hanging up in my coffee shop and I wanted to try it out. I still haven't.




Note: lily batachatarian
Saved on 6/12/10
Translation: I have NO idea.  Can't find a thing on it.  Again, ideas?

So there you have it.  A little window into where I get my ideas--other than straight from the idea fairies, of course.

Tables and Cabinets

I must admit that much of what I do is not based on research.  Well, it might be.  I don't know.  I wasn't good at paying attention to specifics.  I'm more of a whole-picture kind of super hero.  I don't take credit for my thoughts or ideas since I'm never quite sure if they are mine or if I really did learn something in one of my education classes.  I have lots of ideas though, and I don't think I learned that much in my classes, so I'd say it's 50/50.

For example, I tell my students that their brains have a "brain table" and a "brain filing cabinet."

Brain Table
The brain table is where we store many pieces of information.  Sometimes we try to store too much there.  It gets messy, the piles build up, we lose things.  In fact, I once lost my lunch on my desk.  I was eating, then I did some things, then I couldn't find it.  About an hour later, I lifted up a folder and there it was!  Anyhoo,  our brain is a handy place to put things for a little while.  When we get stressed or whelmed, we may keep more than is prudent on this table.  Something will, eventually, fall off.  The only way to guarantee that information sticks around is to put it in the brain filing cabinet. Some learning and studying techniques depend on your brain table, and depend on you to be able to find things on your brain table.   I typically point out that my brain table is a holy mess.  I remind them  about Rule #3--Never put anything on my desk that is important to you--especially your homework.

Brain Filing Cabinet
The brain filing cabinet is where we store things we will want to access later.  We take things from our brain table and do something to it in order to store it in the filing cabinet.  We might organize it, we might chunk it into smaller bits of information, we might group it with like information.  We might color code it, use mnemonic devices, or put it into a more accessible format.  The key to this though, is our ability to retrieve the information once is it there.  You must be able to access the information you put there for immediate use.  This is where you store things you actually learn.  The way you do that is not specific, but is must include USING the information and structuring it in a way that makes it accessible to you.

My goal is make this filing cabinet full, organized, and accessible.  Yes, I want it accessible for the state tests. More than that though, I want it accessible for anything the students want to do.  I want them to have the ability to use what they know when they need it.  In the short term, that will be on state assessments.  In the long term, that may be for future classes, getting jobs, making life choices.  I can't ignore the usefulness of a nice brain table, but my job is the get that filing cabinet all set up.

When I read articles about how kids learn, or how they don't learn I pause a little in my raucous story-telling. The tone of some articles scoff at my Brain Table.  I have not yet had the opportunity to conduct formal peer-reviewed research on my theory, but explaining memory, studying, and accessing information using this analogy is successful.  I only have anecdotal evidence that it works. I may be struck down for saying this, but anecdotal evidence means something to me, and I will continue to use it as long as it works.

All of this is in my Brain Filing Cabinet.  Trouble is, I don't know where I got it originally.  It is filed correctly in there, but has no reference section.  Thank you to whoever or wherever this came from.  Even if it was just the idea fairies.

More Wreckage

Do not fear!  This is the good kind of wreckage!  I promised you, way back in the olden days of yore, that I would share more from the Wreck this Journal.

Here they is.

Pop Quiz

This caped teacher uses post-it notes like crazy (and prefers the Super-Sticky ones).  They are... super sticky.

On Fridays, I give quizzes using said Post-it notes.  They are always on Post-its, always five questions long, and I always give one point for trying and one point for being correct.  Why?  Because my turtle-doves are horrified by tests.  While it is clearly my job to ease this horri-fi-cation, it is also my job to assess what they have learned.  So... I assess with pretty, colorful, non-threatening post-it notes.  Super-stickyness comes in handy as I keep track of them to put them in the grade book.

This week, I handed out one post-it note too many.  Since they were wasted anyway* I said "Oops.  You don't need that one.  Just write me something nice on it."  So they did.

We are working on spelling next week...

*Note--the sticky-ness decreases with each use, you know.  This renders them less useful once unstuck from the pad and re-stuck on a student desk.  Especially because each kiddo has the compulsion to un-stick and re-stick the note after it has been placed on their desk--sometimes multiple times.  I know this, you see, because I have experience with the use and re-use of Super-Sticky Post-It notes.  It's one of my super powers.  Get it?  Super?  As in Super-Sticky Post-it Notes?  Get it?