10 Technology Enhanced Alternatives to Book Reports - Teachingcom

10 Technology Enhanced Alternatives to Book Reports - Teachingcom

This article had some fun alternatives to book reports that would be fun to look into. I've done a couple of them, but would like to expand on!

Creating to Learn- 21st Century Learning Conference @WCPSS

Saturday I had the pleasure of co-presenting at a county wide conference on using technology in education. It was an amazing experience and my colleague and I were so thankful for the positive reaction! We put together a website that showcases our students' digital work (www.ddesbuzz.com), and included a 25 page document available for download. My colleague and I created a practical explanation of the projects that we assign and how to carry them out on your own, from beginning to end.  We hope that more teachers can begin to use technology in their classrooms, no matter what barrier.

Here is a link to the paper, best of luck and we hope it helps!

You can also check out the conference info and handouts here: https://21stcenturyconference.pbworks.com

Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson

Interesting, food for thought!

Explaining Cyber Monday to kids

Today I had a really interesting conversation with a 5th grade class. We started out talking about the Thanksgiving holiday and one student mentioned that they went shopping for Black Friday. The majority of the class had heard of Black Friday and the student went on to point out that today was Cyber Monday. This spurred on a conversation about what is Cyber Monday exactly. At that point I realized that these kids were born in 2001-2002 and Cyber Monday started in 2005.

Almost immediately it turned into a deep conversation where all of the students were engaged. What is the purpose of Cyber Monday? Are there actually decent sales on Cyber Monday? Why bother having Cyber Monday? The students asked thought provoking questions that caught my attention. We spent some time looking at electronics and other items on Wal-Mart’s website. Most of the students knew what the going price was for certain items and could actually validate whether the item was really on sale or not.

The student who initially mentioned Black Friday brought up the fact that she watched two adults fighting over a toy in a retail store. Several students commented with questions like “Why would they do something stupid like that?” and “Who would want to go to jail over a toy?”. Others made comments like “It’s just stuff, it’s not something you NEED”. These comments were the ones that got my attention. First, that adults get so intensely involved into buying things that they lose sight of what is really important and kids are left to watch. Second, that these 10 and 11 year olds clearly understand the concept of NEEDS vs. WANTS.

I don’t know if it is a result of the economy or the students’ parents, but I think today everyone experienced an Ah ha! moment during our class. 

Birke Baehr - "What's Wrong With Our Food ...

This kid is awesome! And he really makes some good points in his 4 minute talk. 

After I watched this video I thought about how tangential learning has become an important part of the learning process today. Gone are the days where we tell students that they are going to be researching animals, regions and countries of the world. What would have happened if this student wasn't "allowed" to study organic farming? Instead, we must focus on teaching and guiding students in HOW to find information rather than WHAT the topic of their research is.

Kids listen to us, why shouldn't we listen to them?

This child prodigy is incredible! And once again, Ted features another amazing speaker. 11 year old Adora Svitak raises valid points about how we as adults should listen to and learn from kids. Definitely provides food for thought!

Will Dropouts Save America? by Michael Ellsberg

This week, and in coming weeks, we are celebrating careers at school. Initially I started talking to our guidance counselor about how we could collaborate to teach our students about careers. I made the mistake of assuming we would just be talking about 4 year colleges/universities. The guidance counselor made a quick and logical point: yes, we want all students to go to college but in reality (and because of the economy) this isn't going to happen. So, rather than forcing the issue, we are going to be talking about certifications, 2 year degrees, trade schools, and 4 year universities; basically anything that requires some type of training or education to perform a job.

Michael Ellsberg's article "Will Dropouts Save America?" further supports this thought. As it is, famous entrepreneurs Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg were all college dropouts. Given the staggering statistics of drop out rates and the rising costs in education, perhaps we should start opening up our minds and including more creative opportunities for our students while they're still in our hands.

Those dreaded words..."the network will be down"

Aaaagggghhh....So Monday our server got upgraded, all of our computers got re-imaged, and our system got the first part of an overhaul. Tuesday and Wednesday flew by, and then Thursday afternoon the network was scheduled to go down at 2pm. Even though we were able to plan for it, EVERYONE (myself included) were a little in disbelief. What exactly are you supposed to do when the network goes down?

Sooo I read When Charlie McButton Lost Power to the class (and yes I felt & looked like Charlie at the moment).

At the end of the story our media specialist asked the students, "If you could no longer use your computer (monitor, keyboard and mouse included) what other uses could it have?" At first the kids looked at us like we were completely BONKERS, but then they got the hang of it. We challenged the kids to come up with as many uses as possible (no matter how crazy) and the person/team that could come up with the most uses would win.

At the end of the class I had 19, Kathy (the media specialist) had 14 or 15, and one pair of boys had 45.

Look for winning answers/ideas in upcoming posts!

Can kids teach themselves?

I watched an inspiring 20 minute lecture on TedTalks by Sugata Mitra. His project, named Hole in the Wall, was driven by a main topic/question: Can kids teach themselves? The results were astounding and the video footage was excellent in driving the point home.  Watching this made me wonder, are we teaching kids to learn on their own or are we doing it for them?

Now consider this scenario:

Every day students come into the computer lab and sit on the carpet for an introduction or a lesson. I almost always write step by step directions on the board next to my smartboard, so that the kids have something to refer to later on in class. We go through the lesson and I model what the kids will be doing, we do a practice activity together, and I ask if anyone has questions. I even have students tell me what the step-by-step directions are. Just when I think they can’t take my repetition any more, I send them off to do the task. Almost every time, I have a student come up to me and ask what they are supposed to be doing, as if they just showed up to class. Many students will even readily admit that they were NOT LISTENING during class! At least they’re honest!!

Once they get to work, more questions pop up, and I have found that many students do not try to problem solve on their own. This makes me wonder, how did this happen and what I am I doing to improve this situation? When did our students become reluctant to try new things? And most worrisome of all, does this reluctance spill over into other areas of their lives?

How do I effectively nurture and guide them without simply doing the task for them? 

What are we doing?!

Normally I catch myself watching stupid videos on YouTube: crazy kittens, little kids singing, and adults doing crazy things. I caught myself watching the “illustrated” version of Sir Ken Robinson’s “School Kills Creativity” talk on TED and sat for the whole thing. After watching it, it made me question how I can make a difference in a child's life. It also made me wonder how I am contributing to decreasing kids' capacity for creativity. 


In education we have this push to bring schools into the 21st century, yet our foundation is rooted in a past that does not represent us.  This video will definitely motivate you, and it will also help you think about your effectiveness as a teacher and what you are really here for.


Or go directly to YouTube-School Kills Creativity- Sir Ken Robinson on TED