The Digital Project Story

Well, I am going to be honest. Every single time I had to write a reflection for my major digital project, I thought of this poem by Peggy Smaith Krachun:

Cursor, Cursor, blinking Cursor
Shade of iridescent green
Cursor in the "Home" position
On my new computer screen

Cursor at the starting gate
Chomping at the bit and byte
Pawing at the screen, impatient
Nagging me to start to write

Cursor poised for the race
In position One, Line One
Waiting for a brilliant word
To set off the starting gun

Until now a plain old scribbler
Was the only thing I'd use
On it I would draw and doodle
While I waited for the Muse

Now I have winking cursor
Mocking me in brilliant green
Have you ever tried to doodle
On a blank computer screen?

Nagging cursor, cursor cursor
Blinking on without a sound
Go away until I'm ready
I'll never write with you around.

I really appreciate how EC&I 831 takes educational theories and puts them into practice. Honestly– it’s a tough and rare thing to do. This class has demonstrated how powerful participatory culture can be. I’ve met a lot of supportive classmates throughout this blogging journey who I will continue to engage in dialogue with. However, I seriously struggled with posting progress on this project.

I pretty much summed up how my digital project went in a previous blog post. The golden rule that I had discussed is something that I am terrible at remembering for myself: continuously reinforce that progress is more important than end result. I never used to consider myself an academically inclined individual — seems weird to even type that out at this point in my life — but this project has demonstrated just how much I have been raised in an environment of the end product being the only thing that matters.

Each time I started a blog post to reflect on my major digital project, I stared at my computer screen for a ridiculous amount of time. Damn that blinking writer’s block cursor! I’m not going to lie, there is a big part of me that wants to talk about how my project was all sunshine and rainbows but I am going to #keepitreal and give you both the positives and negatives:

Sunshine and Rainbows:

• High level of engagement – Students having the ability to choose and change their skill made them excited to research about it. I never had students complain about working on their major digital projects.
• Students would teach each other (and me) what they were learning. While I initially thought this would take place through comments on the blog hub I created, students discussed what they were learning in person to their peers. And the Jedi becomes the master!
• I used some of the readings in this class to show relevancy of what they were doing. I think reminding them to focus their attention while technology surrounds them is a necessary behaviour to learn.
• I adapted this project for students who did not enjoy writing in ELA. Many students reflected on a construction, welding, or mechanic project that they were currently working on (cross-curricular).
• Students were able to work on this assignment when they finished other ELA work early since assessing and reflecting is a continuous process.
• Sometimes I include “Grammar of the Week” into their blog posts so they can practice skills we are learning in class while they assess and reflect on their skill.
• I was able to build stronger relationships with students because this assignment offered me a lot of opportunity to discuss their passions and hobbies. As Rita Person states in a TED talk discussing the importance of being a kid’s champion:  “Kids don’t learn from people they don’t like.”

What’s the opposite of sunshine and rainbows? Rain? Failures? I’m going to title this “Feedback” because failure implies I’m not going to adapt this project in the future (boo-yah, word win)

Rain/Feedback

• Setting up blogs for students is a lot more difficult when they are in high school. Being a new teacher, I sometimes forget I need to explain the purpose of hyperlinks, where to put images, why titles are important, etc. I know this will improve over time but it’s frustrating when I forget how much modelling I need to do to support students.
• My blog hub isn’t working for all my students and I’m at the point where I have given up on it. I am trying to get their feeds into my site slowly but this is my first year teaching ELA so I need to prioritize my time (right now it’s planning engaging activities and marking).
• I wish I would have adapted a rubric earlier because students’ posts have improved since creating it. I always see students looking at the rubric as they write the progress posts now. It has also decreased the amount of time I get, “But, Ms. Koskie, what should this post have on it?”
• I need to reinforce that students should be looking at a variety of resources. Some students are only using one or two resources, but part of this assignment is to recognize how many online programs can help them learn.
• Keep whatever date you decide to do this project on consistent. I forgot how important routines and being consistent is for students. Once I started making this project due on Mondays, students understood my expectations.
• Right now I am using Moodle for most of my classes but I would like to set up a classroom blog next semester so students are familiar with using wordpress.com. I also think it’s valuable to open up my classroom so other’s can learn from what is taking place in my class.

Implementing this projects TAKES A WHOLE LOT OF TIME AND ENERGY. I think it will be worth it in the end!

I feel like there is a pretty cliché English teacher way to end this…. are you ready? Oh man, I am pretty excited about this:

Yeah, it happened.

• Koskie Out!

Getting “Caught Up” in the Chaos

So, my students are now in full swing with their Major Digital Projects. A few of my students wanted to change their skills and I kept telling them it was too late in the semester.

Mistake.

Retrieved from http://www.crystalinks.com/panicdisorder.html

One of my students asked me why they could not change their skill since the rubric was  about assessing and reflecting and not about mastering a skill.  Good point. I guess I kind of got caught up in the assignment for this class and how we couldn’t change our skill. You know what I always say in English class? I don’t care about your opinion unless you can back it up with evidence. OK, I don’t think I come across that harsh (I probably do).

The student brought up a good point and used my rubric as evidence. English teacher win? I certainly don’t want students to struggle with an assignment that they will do throughout the entire semester.  I hear a collective sigh of relief from people who were dreading “faking” their progress reports. I had a total of four students change their skill so they were able to assess on something they were passionate about.

The progress reports I am getting have improved since I decided they were able to change their skill. I did let them know that it would be cool to see progress on a skill, which requires them to do it for a longer period of time. So far, I haven’t had a student switch their skill again.  Amazing how treating young people like adults leads to better classroom management. I guess it’s hard to break the habit of valuing process as much as product. After all, I am a byproduct of how I was taught and I am struggling to resist the temptation of the end product.

• Koskie Out!

Hello, it’s about that time / that we start summarizing

WHO IS TIRED OF HEARING ADELE’S SONG “HELLO”?

I decided to write a song for my Summary of Learning because I thought it would be a challenge for me. It’s difficult to summarize knowledge from an entire semester and give an accurate idea of what was discussed (never mind doing that in a song). I definitely had some issues with fitting the words “misogynist” and “pedagogy” while keeping the same rhythm to the song. Here is the final product:

I struggled mainly with two things:

1. Adele knows how to sing hard songs without making them sound difficult. This song is really soft in some parts and then really loud during the chorus. The microphone I was using wasn’t a big fan of this change of dynamic so I had to sit far away from the microphone.

Take note of where the microphone is and where my face is.

2. Making a lyric video is not as easy as it looks. The first few attempts cut off important lyrics and/or the lyrics didn’t align with my song. It was frustrating. I’ll give you an idea of how I created the lyric video below.

In order to make the lyric video, I used a few different programs:

• The first website I used was called LRC Generator. This website creates .lrc files with the lyrics to whatever song you choose. I always wondered how people would sync up words with music on karaoke videos and now I know. Family Christmas will never be the same again.
  • The process is rather tedious because you need to write lyrics line-by-line with ~ 3-5 words per line. Want a longer sentence on your lyric video? ABORT. The program I used to make my lyric video would cut off lines that were too long.
  • The generator I linked also allows you to download your lyrics as a .txt file, which you will also need to create a lyric video.
• The second program I used was called YouTube Movie Maker. This program requires your .lrc and .txt file and generates the font and background of your video.  It’s a pretty simple program to use and this video tutorial shows you how create a final lyric video.

That’s it my lovely EC&I 831 people!

I had an absolutely blast learning from all of you.

• Koskie Out!

Quieting that Inner Voice: Slacktivism DOES Promote Action

Sometimes I hate that inner voice. The inner voice that tells you “Ugh, instead of changing your Facebook picture to have a deep blue, red, and white flag filter could you actually take action to prevent terrorism?” or “can you please stop posting pictures of yourself ‘getting fit and happy?” I’ll be the first to admit I battle this voice all the time. Now, I stand back and think why am I having this reaction? Is it because I promote social justice on social media in a more meaningful way? No, I don’t think that’s it. Do I have a negative reaction to people becoming fit because I am currently balancing Cheetos on my stomach as I type this? OK, that one may be true.

We are born in a world where we feel the need to compete with each other. I’ve met a select few people who don’t seem to have this need, or maybe they can simply hide it better than most.  Part of the problem is that people internalize the dominant narrative in order to fit in.  An example of this happening is how women will call other women derogatory terms as much as men do. Unfortunately, what ends up getting lost is the message or issue we are trying to fight for.

The simple fact is that slacktivism does promote social agency. Who cares if you disagree with it? If it’s helping people spread awareness of a cause, it’s better than the alternative (balancing Cheetos and doing nothing else). Do I wish people would become more involved and take action? Yes, I do. I wish we all had time in our days to help the less fortunate and work towards a world where people can meet their basic needs with dignity.

For those of you who don’t know what slacktivism is:

“Slacktivism is actions performed via the Internet in support of a political or social cause but regarded as requiring little time or involvement, e.g., signing an online petition or joining a campaign group on a social media website.”

The Wikipedia article has a negative definition of slacktivism that emphasizes how it does nothing at all but make us feel better about ourselves: “It is the act of showing support for a cause but only truly being beneficial to the egos of people participating in this so-called activism.” Woahh, calm down Wikipedia. I don’t speak for the entire population, but I certainly don’t feel like I’ve changed the world by sharing or tweeting a social justice issue. Scott Gilmore argues that slacktivism makes people less likely to donate to a cause because we get instant gratification from a “like” or “share.”  In fact, Gilmore goes as far as shaming people who engage in slacktivism while other researchers suggest that people are more likely to donate to a charity after they’ve signed an online petition.

Well, Mr. Gilmore and other slacktivist critics, here are a few things that slacktivism has helped spread awareness of and/or raise money for:

• ALS Bucket Challenge (raised $115 million in six weeks w/ more searches for A.L.S in 2014 than in the entire previous decade)
• #YesAllWomen – brought awareness to street harassment, and specifically bystander intervention
• #NotYourMascot – addresses the “misappropriation of Indigenous identity, imagery, and culture.
• #IdleNoMore – honouring Indigenous sovereignty and protecting land and water rights.

I’ve even included a few hashtags that are no longer widely used (and some would argue show how slacktivism is not effective). Here is the thing, though: These hashtags or “slacktivism campaigns” have led to some meaningful conversations in my classroom where students want to know why people are “sharing” or “liking” a cause/issue. Social media is especially important because it provides an opportunity or “buy in” to show students how historical issues are still relevant and have implications for today. It makes my social studies heart happy. Awareness is the predecessor to action; so, instead of wasting your time complaining about slacktivism, start having conversations around the issues that matter.

I don’t know about you, but I think we have bigger things to complain about.

• Koskie Out

 

Trolls, Bullies, Racists, and Misogynists …. and Procrastinators?

Oh boy, the semester is over and I have fallen behind. I’m just going to post this here:

Tim Urban discusses something called an “instant gratification monkey” which I seem to have, but it’s more than that: Teaching is exhausting.  I will not have to experience the less-than-ideal circumstances of many students who make it to school. Building relationships with students is exhausting. Supporting students mentally, physically, emotionally, and intellectually is exhausting. I’m tired.

It’s also the most important part of this job and the reason I come to work every day. Students are amazing. I mean this. Wow, some of the conversations around racism, feminism, and media representations never would have been mentioned when I went to school. It is so easy to shift responsibility and not address social issues today; it’s one of the rights I get because of my privilege. Privilege gives me the ability to say, “This student isn’t trying because (s)he is lazy” rather than trying to understand and support them.

Privilege allows me the opportunity to stay silent and be still.

I can’t deny that the internet allows for some very hateful rhetoric to be spoken.  I think Donald Trump’s campaign is an example of how effective fear-mongering tactics still are.  Muslims and violence was one of the biggest issues discussed on social media this year. At the beginning, I found myself going on some pretty extensive Facebook sweeps and deleting a lot of people who were promoting racism and discrimination.

Stop. Wait. What are you doing? I think about what I’ve just done– I’m shifting responsibility. I decided not to engage and disrupt something I care deeply about. Why? Well, honestly, sometimes I don’t think it’s worth it. Sometimes you know that you are fighting a battle with someone who will never change their minds. Other times I feel like I am not educated enough on an issue to defend it. Man, I wish there was a device where experts were posting about misconceptions about Islam. I decide to save my efforts for when I think I can make a difference. But lately I’ve been engaging more in educating others on social media. I don’t make people feel guilty for believing in something. Instead, I explain the reasons behind why they think the way they do and what we can do to combat it.

Just recently I entered into a discussion on a Facebook page called Roses and Raspberries from my hometown. The basic function of the page is to award “roses” for good things that people do in the community and give “raspberries” if people/places/events did something wrong or hurtful to someone.  As you can imagine, posts can range from “Roses to person who bought my coffee at McDonald’s” to “Raspberries to the city for putting up snowflakes on our light posts instead of the Christmas trees, that were 30 years old and falling apart. Why do we have to get rid of Christmas because of a few immigrants moving to the city?”

OK, although I exaggerated the wording on the last example, it really did happen.  It’s frustrating, but it gives me a platform to disrupt hateful rhetoric.  And, after entering a discussion about teaching residential schools, I was pleasantly surprised to see the number of people advocating for educating about residential schools much higher than those who were trying to either:

• a) shift responsibility – “We shouldn’t teach that until we teach Ukrainian history.”
• b)  forget about current racism – “What about white people who were abused in the past? You don’t see us complaining about it.”
• c) guilt us – “Talking about residential schools paralyzes us from moving on and living in a Utopian society that would otherwise exist.”
• d) colourblind us – “We shouldn’t focus on our differences. We are all the same.”

It was interesting to see all of these ideas come up. I didn’t feel uncomfortable entering this discussion either (I am often wary of entering social media discussions when I am public figure in the community). I didn’t make people feel bad for feeling the way they did, rather I described why they were saying these things. And I’m not going to pretend like people said “Oh, man. Koskie, you just changed my world.” I have no idea if I helped one person in that single conversation question why they thought the way they did. All I know is that, in that moment, I did not shift responsibility to someone else to fix it.

Deciding to take action is not always an easy thing to do for people, especially women.  John Oliver discusses things like revenge porn, direct threats, sexism in the video game industry, doxing, and how dangerous it is for women to speak out on social media.

Sometimes I think people can paint people as either good or bad, based on whether they speak out on social media or not. I think there is a lot of grey area here. Women are afraid to speak out because they don’t want to put their safety at risk. I will not shame people who decide not to be outspoken about something because they fear for their life (a very real fear to have when you look at cases of doxing).  It’s a terrible cycle– I can’t blame people for wanting to be safe, but I know that we need to speak out in order to change things. I also recognize that, if anything that I said on social media did have severe backlash, it wouldn’t reflect poorly on my entire race. I do feel like I am in a position where I need to speak out.

What’s the solution?

I’m not sure. The internet is a tool and people who are violent will condone violence and people who are peaceful will speak out about injustice and enact positive change. Sometimes I think people get a little lost in examples of much bigger problems. We need to explain the why. Instead of calling Beyonce a terrible feminist, we should focus more on institutionalized “isms” and why people have the tendency to blame victims.  As I was typing that, I came to the realization that instituionalized “isms” will likely not be a trending topic. So,  is it better to simplify things in order to gain a bigger audience?

What do you think?

• Koskie Out!

Digital Literacy Skills in da Formative Assessment House

Why didn’t I think of including 21st century digital literacy skills into my formative assessments? One of the most valuable things I have been talking about in my classes this semester is how we can focus our energy when surrounded by so much technology.

In a previous blog post, I discuss an epiphany I had related to educational technology.  To sum it up in one sentence: Technology and the ability to access information that is distracting is never going away. Students will always be able to ignore what they should be focusing on at school, work, or their home so there is no point complaining about it. It’s time we start teaching students how to focus their attention WITH technology rather than putting a band-aid on the problem and temporarily taking it away.

Let’s be clear here, I am not perfect. I used to take away phones without a second thought. Now, I have started reminding them to focus their energy and explaining why it is important to do so. I’m not going to pretend like I still don’t take away phones sometimes. However, the amount of times I have to take phones away has decreased exponentially.  I keep reminding them that focusing their attention on what is important is a skill that many employers are looking for in the workforce.

As a social studies teacher, I always try and make content engaging and relevant for my students. I never like to hear the question “why do I have to learn this?” However, I have neglected to explain the relevancy and purpose of learning specific skills– whether it be digital literacy, researching, citation, etc. I love making meaningful connections with literature and content, but I’m beginning to recognize that skills are being left behind.

I decided to include a row on my rubric that addresses 21st century digital literacy skills. For the first couple of weeks, I am going to give them reminders to focus their attention. I am hoping I will continue to see a decline of students using their technology inappropriately.

• Koskie Out!

Assessing Process – High School Style

Well, one of the greatest parts about the teaching profession is that you can steal things from other teachers and implement it. I would like to give a round of applause to Katia Hildebrandt and Alec Couros for creating this rubric for our Major Project.

As a new teacher, I am aware of a multitude of assessment strategies that help students succeed.  I have tried a lot of different strategies in my classroom: peer evaluation, fishbowls, checklists, questioning, exit slips, but nothing comes close to the love I have for rubrics. Don’t get me wrong, I think there are downsides to every assessment strategy— rubrics included.  Sometimes they hinder students from taking risks in their assignments and the end results are very formula.  However, I have found that rubrics have drastically helped some students who struggle the most.

It gets especially tricky when trying to create a rubric that values process more than product. So, I thank Katia and Alec again because I don’t have to start creating a rubric from nothing. I basically adapted their rubric to fit the Assess and Reflect Outcomes in ELA 20/30.  I left a lot of the same details, as the project is similar to what people are doing in EC&I 831. I am trying to resist the urge to put a lot of detail into my rubric so that I can allow students to focus on their strengths. I will most likely need to adapt this based on the responses I receive, but that’s all part of the teaching game.

I have also changed the date for when students write posts for their Major Digital Project.  At first, I thought it would be a great thing for students to do on Friday. However, I found that students sometimes forgot to work on their skill; allowing students to write posts on Monday gives them the ability to practice on the weekend. This seems to be working much better so far.

We are also currently learning how to properly integrate quotations, so I will be requiring they practice that skill on their blog posts. They can look at different readings and integrate quotations from experts in their chosen skill, or a quote that explains the process of learning something related to their skill.

Frustration of the Week:

Photo Credit: Robin Hutton via Compfight cc

My blog hub is not showing all of my students posts. I really wanted this to work seamlessly so that students could see and write comments on each other’s blogs. I set it up by getting students to fill out a Google Form that required them to put their blogs:  wordpressblogs.com/category/koskieela/feed.

However, only a few of my student’s posts have been showing up on koskieela.ca so I am going to prevail this week and figure it out!

• Koskie Out!

 

Net Neutralit”isms”

The battle over net neutrality is something I care deeply about.

Net neutrality is a complicated issue. I could spend the next five minutes trying to explain it or I could simply link this video which will do a much better job than me.

You know what’s nice? I don’t have to pay for YouTube or WordPress; I can simply link a video that anyone on the web will have access to. I can reach a variety of people from different races, classes, and jobs. I can show you some more resources that describe net neutrality and why it’s important. I don’t want an unequal playing field on what/who can be viewed on the Internet. Voices will be drowned and fighting the dominant narrative will  be much more difficult; this means that losing net neutrality has major implications for education.

There is no denying that corporations are interested in education. America’s Curriculum Core Standards (CCS) has been driven by businesses rather than educators.  These standards were meant to increase student achievement with standardized goals and test-based accountability.  Matthew Di Carlo asserts that CCS only look at in-school education reform and ignore the realities of many students outside the classroom walls:

[R]oughly 60 percent of achievement outcomes is explained by student and family background characteristics (most are unobserved, but likely pertain to income/poverty). Observable and unobservable schooling factors explain roughly 20 percent, most of this (10-15 percent) being teacher effects. The rest of the variation (about 20 percent) is unexplained (error). In other words, though precise estimates vary, the preponderance of evidence shows that achievement differences between students are overwhelmingly attributable to factors outside of schools and classrooms (Di Carlo 2010).

If corporations are deeply embedded in our education system, net neutrality is one way that educators can combat the control industries have.  Lately, there has been a push for open source textbooks, an unbelievable amount of free educational tools developed, and collaborative hubs to exchange ideas and improve our teaching practice. I do not want to go back to the days where I am sitting in a desk, reading a textbook from 1980, and answering multiple choice questions. If corporations and content providers can give better access to websites (content and tools) for people who have money, many voices and opportunities are lost; classism and many other “isms” would be further built into our digital age.

• Koskie Out

 

Open Opportunities

Clever online marketing is a real thing.

Oddly enough, lessons from Luaren Invik’s blog post about how to land jobs via social media ended up coming true for me in the same week.

One of my old high school teachers, Steve Variyan, favourited one of my tweets last week:

8 interactive Google Slides activities for classroom excitement https://t.co/tGDAvMd2Uw #eci831 #edtech #ditchbook

— Katherine Koskie (@kkoskie) March 12, 2016

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

No big deal, right? Getting favourites on tweets doesn’t really mean a whole lot (except for that weird sense of accomplishment you get sometimes). Later in the week, he contacted me via Facebook. A few days later I was in his office, collaborating on how to make more interactive presentations for training purposes.

One tweet and I have a new opportunity– a new connection. Not to mention those dolla dolla billz ya’ll. Sorry, I’ll never say that again.

Do I market myself online? Yeah, I do. It seems weird–like something I never I would do as a teacher. It didn’t really start out as intentional marketing, though. I am extremely passionate about the stuff I talk about on social media and marketing myself is a bonus that comes from my dedication. It’s not a show– OK, sometimes it can be a little showy. Did I mention my classroom is very pretty?

The point is that we are constantly evolving as people and so do our online identities. Bonnie steward argues that “Facebook and the rest of social media are our day-to-day archive of who we are trying to become” and I have to agree.  Sometimes Facebook reminds me of the cringeworthy posts I used to write on people’s walls. In fact, I remember when people thought Facebook was hacked because some of the information posted was so personal. Nope. We all made those comments publicly. Do I hate the way I used to behave online? Yeah, I do, but it also provides me with the ability to see my growth as a person and professional– oh, how my values and beliefs have changed.

Students can participate in important conversations and be a voice of resistance to the dominant narrative on social platforms.  At this point, it’s not a question of if students will need to have a positive online identity but when. Kristen Rushowy believes this shift has already begun: Portfolios are more dynamic than a simple paper resume. I would much rather show a potential employer my work instead of telling them about it.  I think about students who are passionate about construction, welding, art, and other skills that are difficult to showcase on paper will be able to have an entirely different interview experience.

• Koskie Out

 

 

 

 

 

 

Started from Disorganized Now We’re Here

I don’t know about any other new teachers out there, but sometimes it is hard to remember how much we need to explain concepts for students.  I definitely make assumptions about what students know.  Coming out of university, you become critical, knowledgeable, and surrounded with like-minded individuals.  You don’t really need to explain the process of “making a title that engages readers” or “adding pictures into your blog posts.”  You pretty much just say those statements and university students will figure it out (for the most part).

Scaffolding is necessary for any assignment, even one that it is heavily process-oriented.  I just figured out something magical about integrating this major digital project with ELA. I have started teaching grammar concepts with a few different resources (namely iSkills and noredink.com).  For the past week, my grade eleven students have been learning about sentence fragments– they can recognize them, tell me if a verb or subject is missing, and make fragments whole again.  This digital project let me take their knowledge of sentence fragments and apply it to blog posts.

Here is something ELA teachers rarely tell ya: sentence fragments can add some serious pizzazz to your writing. Know what I mean? Short. Choppy. Fabulous.  So, after some formative assessments, my students will now include some sentence fragments in their blog post.  These fragments need to be intentional and thoughtful.  What parts of their blog do they want to emphasize? Enter sentence fragment.  Know what else I can do? When students comment on each other’s blogs, they can identify where their peers wrote a sentence fragment and if/why they thought it was an effective place to put it.

THIS IS NOT A DRILL PEOPLE – I am pretty excited.

I plan on continuing this scaffolding model with my major digital project.  We will start talking about run-on sentences, integrating quotations, paragraphs, thesis, conclusions and students will need to incorporate these into their blog posts to practice. I’m currently working on a rubric so my students have more guidance when writing future blog posts.

Photo Credit: Theen … via Compfight cc

Guys– it’s beautiful. I’m tearin’ up over here.

• Koskie Out