As this school year comes to an end, I have spent a lot of time reflecting on what I want to do differently next year…so much so that I thought it was appropriate to capture my thoughts in my first Friday Five post.  With that being said, listed below are 5 websites that I hope to explore and incorporate into my instruction during the 2009-2010 school year.

1. Google Apps
2. Edmodo
3. PBWorks
   
4. Voicethread
5. TinyChat

Listed below are my favorite, student-friendly, resources for teaching about Africa.

• Africam
• African Voices
• AIDS in Africa
• BBC News: Africa
• Eyes on Darfur
• National Geographic: Africa
• PBS: Africa
• South Africa: Overcoming Apartheid
• The Story of Africa

A word of warning. I am using this space to recreate a conversation that happened elsewhere.

The original discussion started with a blog post I read about using backchanneling in a middle school social studies classroom. Essentially, students were told to use Today’s Meet, a private chat room, to capture their thoughts and questions while they watched a video in class. At the end of the 50 minute period, the teacher was able to print the transcript of the chat in order to assess student learning and, more importantly, in order to really understand what students were thinking during the video.

I thought that this was an interesting and innovative use of technology that has real potential. So I shared the link with my Twitter network…

…And within a few minutes, a discussion had started…

This discussion continued, in more detail, on the I Teach Social Studies Ning where we decided on the following set of guidelines:

1) Test out a variety of websites to find one that is not blocked in your school. Suggestions included TinyChat, Today’s Meet, and Cover It Live.

2) Write 3-4 open-ended questions for students to explore while watching the video. These should serve as guides, not limits, to the conversation.

3) Whenever possible, utilize the collaboration tools available on the various websites. Polls, links, etc. can enhance what students take away from the experience.

4) Have students do some sort of follow-up activity. Maybe work in small groups to summarize the answers to the questions. Summaries can be shared with the whole class and tweaked accordingly. Use this as an opportunity to teach not only content, but also skills.

For information on classroom backchanneling, try the following resources:
Art Titzel’s Blog Post on his experiences

This video, created by Peggy Sheehy as the Keynote for the Net Generation Education Project, reinforces importance of embracing technology in our classrooms…because the future is happening right now…outside our doors.

So how often do students explore, discover, create, and collaborate, in your classroom? How are you making it happen?

See my journey…and that of my students…on our Cougar Pride and Think Global Nings.

The Animoto video below highlights my favorite classroom tools.  Some are old…some are new…but all have changed the way I teach.

Thanks to Darren Draper at Drape’s Takes for sharing this video about what it means to be a connected student – and his teacher – in the 21st century. It serves as another reminder of where I want to go with my students in the months to come.

While I will admit to being a bit biased (I have been working with the Office since 2006), I wanted to take a minute to direct social studies teachers to an incredible resource – the Office of Civic Education & Engagement at the University of Louisville.

On their website, teachers can find an entire high school civics course, including daily lesson plans and resources. Each was developed with Kentucky Core Content in mind, and each has been piloted in classrooms across the state.

If you think that these lessons might meet your needs, take a few minutes to look through them. Then join our network and share your thoughts about how we can make them better for all students.

I ran across this photo while reading Dr. Scott McLeod’s Dangerously Irrelevant blog, and thought that it perfectly captures my frustration with many current education policies.

What do you think? How does your school/district manage Web 2.0 technologies? What does that mean for your students and for their futures?

The photo below shows one of my students contributing to our post-election dialogue. In it, students were each given a sticky note and asked to respond to one of six questions posted around the room. Questions were open-ended, allowing all students the opportunity to participate, albeit at different levels. This process was repeated one time. Students were not, however, allowed to contribute to the same poster twice.

Once all students had added their two sticky notes to the posters, they were then asked to read and respond to what their classmates had written. I, of course, reminded them of the Class Discussion Guidelines.

Finally, each group of students was given one poster to read and summarize for the class.

After class posted the questions on our class ning, allowing the discussion to continue outside of the classroom.

While this activity took very little preparation on my part, it engaged every student in my class. No one was left out, yet no one was put on the spot. And I have a written record of what was said, allowing me to easily grade the discussion. This, with a few minor changes, could become one of my favorite activities.

1. Create a classroom climate that supports meaningful discussion first. Before you attempt a Cafe Conversation in your classroom, spend a time teaching your students how to talk to one another. Remind them that they are going to be more mature than the people they watch on television. I share my Classroom Discussion Guidelines with my students, then we practice…everyday.

2. Prepare thoughtful, open-ended questions. Each group should contribute something new to the discussion. Be sure to write questions that allow for this.

3. Structure the conversation to fit both your own and your students needs. Think about your own personality and that of your students. Can you function, even thrive, in a chaotic environment? Can your students? I am a very organized person, and I teach freshmen. As such, my Cafe Conversations follow very specific guidelines. Each group is assigned to a very specific area on the posters. Each group member is told to write in a different color. A discussion count-down is projected in the front of the room. Posters move, students don’t. This works for me and my students. Find out what works for you.

4. Monitor student progress and adapt as necessary. As the discussion progresses, walk around the room. Answer questions. Clarify meaning. Nudge students back onto the task at hand.

5. Debrief the conversation. The end of the Cafe Conversation should not be the end of the discussion. Require that students briefly summarize the thoughts and ideas that ended up on their original poster. Have them look for patterns, question one another’s assumptions, and correct any errors. Then require them share their findings with the class. I have students record this information in their individual notebooks, allowing them to take the discussion with them.

Watch the video above to get an idea of how the lesson worked in my classroom.