The End of the School Year is Near

It’s the middle of May, which means the school year is drawing to a close.  As always, it has gone by so quickly and I feel like I have so much more to do, but the clock is ticking and there’s not enough time!  So, I figured I’d reflect on what I’ve learned, what I am proud of and what I need to work on as a teacher and what I want to do differently next year.

1.  I have realized I need to spend much more time on writing next year.  My students have just finished their last writing piece of the year and so many said, “Mrs. Polen, I feel like I finally get it!”.  My heart rose and sank at the same time.  That’s wonderful, but it’s May!  Did we not write enough in class?  It felt as if we did at the time, but now that I look back, I’m not so sure.  Now I want to keep all my kids next year so we can keep building on what they’ve learned.  However, I’m satisfied in the fact that we have wonderful English teachers at our school, so I know my kids will be in good hands next year and will continue to develop their skills.  And I know to incorporate more writing opportunities for my students next year!

2.  I’ve learned so much more about incorporating reading and writing strategies this year through my PLN on Twitter, books (thanks, Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher), colleagues and at professional development workshops.  Though I’ve been teaching for 12 years, I am constantly learning from others and still get excited to learn from them.  Now I want to sit down and decide on the strategies which will work best next year and get a little more organized with incorporating them into my curriculum.  One quick strategy I’ve been using lately which I love and wish I had known about years ago:  Have students write a 10 word summary of the reading, using one-syllable words only.  It is challenging, forces kids to really think about the reading, is a great summary practice and helps facilitate class discussion.  I want to gather more of these quick lessons into my arsenal so I can gauge students’ comprehension of the reading we do in class because I am finding them so effective as well as so easy to implement!

3.  Requiring students to use textual evidence to back up their opinion is one of the most important skills we can require of our kids, no matter the content area.  Students, especially high school students, are so apt to fall into the trap of simply voicing their opinion, without substantiating it with anything from the text.  This year I have constantly asked the students to read to me samples from the text to back up their thoughts, that now it has become routine for them.  I think this is one skill which will help them as they become writers in college, since so much of that writing will be research-based and not so much first-person narrative, the writing with which they are most comfortable.

4.  The most important lesson I’ve learned this year is that building relationships with students is the best thing a teacher can do, hands-down.  Talking to students before class, allowing them to give their perspectives in discussions without judgement, giving them opportunities to challenge themselves with support and guidance, talking with them on Twitter about class topics, have all been so crucial to creating that “safe” classroom environment which makes kids thrive.  I don’t care what “new” educational reforms are mandated from the powers-that-be; if a teacher does not have a classroom where kids feel confident to try new things, can give their opinions and can make mistakes without being criticized, kids won’t thrive.  But I’ve learned that students also crave a sense of routine and discipline; they expect it and respect it as well.  This is the type of classroom I strive to have, however, I know there are times I make mistakes and wish I could take back something that was said which was taken the wrong way or something which was not handled as well as I could have handled it.  Working with high school students can be difficult, exhausting, frustrating, but also exciting, rejuvenating and most of the time just downright fun.  They make me laugh on a daily basis, then make me want to pull out my hair the next day!  But most of all, I feel honored that I get to have a small influence on their lives and I am very conscious to make certain that I make that influence a positive one; that is an awesome responsibility.

Though I can honestly say it has been a great year, I am ready for the rest which comes with summer (although now it’s time to focus on all the chores I need to do on my house which get neglected during the school year).  I will work on changing some lessons, adding new strategies, fine-tuning my reading list, etc., etc. and will write a blog post next year at this time lamenting on all the things I want to do differently the following school year.  Teaching is an ever-changing and never perfected profession.

Everyone is An Expert

Something scary has been happening during the last ten years or so as we teachers have been dutifully working hard to nurture, encourage and educate our students:  Schools have slowly merged into businesses.  Why did most of us choose education as a major in college while many of our friends went the business route?  It was not for the money, which may have been a source of contention with others who called us crazy for not choosing a more lucrative career field.  It was certainly not for the Christmas bonuses nor the expensive business trips.  No.  It was for the chance to work with kids, it was for the chance to be creative and to develop lesson plans, it was for the chance to see struggling students find some success and to learn new ideas, it was for the chance to work in a profession in which you have the sacred opportunity to help change someone’s life.  I knew going into this that there would be many lean years and I’ve never been bitter about the fact that twenty years later, I am only now making as much as some of the business majors made upon graduation.  We all make our choices and I love my job; to me, that is worth it.

What I am a little bitter about is the fact that now businesses, politicians and others are swooping into our schools like the proverbial superheroes to fix all that ails us.  They are donning their capes and opening charter schools and touting the benefits of online schools, they are creating standardized tests with the help of big-business publishing companies which do not truly reflect a student’s ability and knowledge and they are begrudging teachers our benefits and unions.  I do not want to get into a huge political debate – that is not my intent here.  But I do want to point out the fact that I’ve always been bothered by those who are not educators claiming to have the knowledge of educators simply because they, too, went through the public school system.  Really?  I’ve been to a hospital many times, but never would I claim to have the wisdom to run a hospital.  I’ve visited Washington, D.C., but because of my time spent there, would I have the expertise to take over the capital, or for that matter, the country?  Of course not.  I respect what others do as well as respect the time and schooling which went into their working at that particular job. I personally have no desire to cut people open for surgery, but you can be sure that I am so happy there are people who have the expertise and the know-how to do just that!  I would never want to run our country, but am grateful that Mr. Obama is willing to do so.  My point:  Educators are trained professionals as well and should be treated as such.

However, there is another and perhaps, more important, entity at stake with the intrusion of business and politicians and that would be the students.  The following video called “Kids for Sale”    prompted my writing about this.  It was eye-opening for me and made me think about the ramifications to students, to teachers, to administrators and to parents if education continues in this direction.  I feel for these students and as a parent myself, I have witnessed the stresses these kids experience under the stifling weight of testing.  My youngest daughter spent weeks this past school year studying for the OAA’s (which I do not even know what that stands for nor do I care).  She would come home from school and spend countless hours filling out packets of worksheets to help her prepare for the upcoming tests and as I read the many notes from her teachers about the tests, I could read between the lines and feel the pressure being put upon them.  These test scores were not only an assessment of the students, but of them as teachers.  These scores would be calculated into their Value-Added score and would by some mathematical formula magically compute their value as a teacher and to the district.  Really?  How about the fact that my daughter’s teacher allowed some of the quieter students to eat in her room at lunch to avoid the chaos of the cafeteria because she knew how frightening that can be to some students?  Was her empathetic nature put into her Value-Added score?  How about the fact that my daughter’s teacher allowed her complete freedom in creating book projects to nurture her creative side?  Was that in the magic formula?  No.  But those test scores were and I really feel for her and the pressure she is under as an educator.

My daughter did not pass the math section of these mysterious OAA’s.  And truthfully, the only reason I cared was because of the reflection on her teacher in her Value-Added score.  I know my daughter struggles in math; she will always have to work harder than most in learning math concepts, but she is a proficient reader and passed that section with flying colors.  My husband and I haven’t even told her yet about the score and we are not sure if we will since it will only serve to make her feel badly.  But one bad test score does not a poor student make.  My daughter is creative, imaginative and loves to write stories and make up plays with her friends.  This is what I want to see nurtured in her as a student, not her ability to take standardized tests; creativity and strong language skills are what will serve her well in her career and life.  Dear Big Business, when interviewing prospective employees, have you ever asked them how well they did on their math section on the OAA’s?  I think not.  Please remember that as you line your pockets with taxpayer dollars as you “fix” our ailing schools.

The Struggles of Teaching Writing in High School

I am taking a graduate class this summer which is about teaching writing.  The class got into a heated discussion last night about the differences between what we, as middle and high school teachers, need to teach versus what is expected to be taught at the college-level.  The idea of structured writing which focuses on formulaic structure with emphasis on correct grammar and spelling conventions was a hot topic, especially when Common Core Standards and standardized testing rest upon the shoulders of public school teachers around the country.  Should we focus on strictly content, or should we emphasize the correct writing conventions?  Should we allow spelling and grammatical errors to cloud the quality of the writing and lower the grade if the content is excellent?  It was an interesting discussion and here is my response to the issue:

The teaching of writing is such a subjective concept.  While one teacher or professor may love one style of writing, another could possibly hate it and criticize it, all the while cutting down the student’s confidence and killing their love of writing.  Therein lies the constant struggle as an English teacher.  When and how to grade for grammatical and structural issues within a writing piece and when to focus strictly on the content in order to give students a broad scope of the writing process so they will be prepared for most anything.  I’m not sure there is a correct answer for this problem nor will there ever be.

Having taught high school for many years, I feel I have a pretty decent grasp of how most high school students write (I would never categorize all students under one sweeping adjective since every student is different and should be recognized as such).  Many struggle with sentence structure and organization; sometimes reading a high school paper is comparable to a wild treasure hunt – trying desperately to find the purpose, the theme, the true “meat” of the paper in a sea of unorganized and random thoughts.  Most high school students need help with basic organization, so I always make sure we get the traditional essay down first, especially the thesis statement.  It may sound old-fashioned or stuffy, but I have found this essay becomes essentially “training wheels” for the students; it forces them to write in a more rigid fashion, but in doing so, teaches them the basic outline or skeleton of a writing piece and they can eventually veer from this format once they are more confident with their writing.  And, yes, on first drafts I do check for spelling and grammar issues, however, I always make sure I give positive feedback as well.  I do take points off for these issues, but I do so to ensure students are aware of them and the issues don’t undermine the quality of the writing.  Here is my take on this:  I want to be completely honest and let the kids know what it is they need to work on within their own writing because many times they are not sure or they are simply unaware of certain writing rules and conventions.  It’s the equivalent to having a big chunk of spinach protruding from your front teeth and walking around all day and having not one single person inform you of the offensive green leaf shoved unceremoniously in your mouth.  I would want to know when there is spinach in my teeth just as students should know what it is that is ails their papers.  By not telling, we are not helping to save someone the embarrassment of green teeth nor are we being honest with our students about their writing.

On the other hand, I agree that students should experience writing many different types of papers.  Simply writing the same tired and dreary five-paragraph essay over and over does not a good writer make.  We write novels during November’s National Writing Month, we write narrative pieces, we do many free-writes to start class; I really do try to mix up the types of assignments.  This is important to do so in order to play to the strengths of different learners in the classroom since I always have my left-brain students who love research and the structure of a thesis paper and my right-brainers who thrive with the creative assignments.  Balance.  If I were to describe what epitomizes an effective classroom in one word, it would be “balance”.  Kids have to work hard, learn the conventions, get upset when I give some constructive feedback, call me bad names in their heads, rewrite, edit, revise, be proud of the final draft, like me again as a teacher, gain confidence as a writer, then go out, have some fun with the writing and break the rules!  They need to be able to party with the proverbial lampshade on their heads with their writing, only after they’ve completed all the grunt work beforehand.  Then, I can send them off to college knowing that they have the confidence to write in many different ways with the freedom that they will be given outside the walls of a high school.  

What I Want My Students to Know…”Gatsby” and “Modern Family”

I have been on Twitter for about six months now. The reason I love it is because I receive so much information which is relevant to me and my classroom; I truly believe it has made me a better teacher. But one thing I’ve noticed is the amount of tweets which gently remind teachers of what we are supposed to be doing in our classroom. Anything from we need to stop ‘making’ kids read books in which they are not interested to we need to embrace each student’s uniqueness and center our curriculum around their interests. Got it. Understood. I do all of those things and have a very good success rate in doing so. On the other hand, I do not feel high school students necessarily have enough life experience to understand everything they need to know in order to gain a culturally literate education on their own.  I’m not saying I am all-knowing in this area as well, but in my 41 years I have learned a thing or two about culture and literature which I can pass onto my students.  And in gaining cultural literacy, does this not necessitate teachers in a classroom facilitating and guiding students to reach outside their comfort zones and to learn something which they may not have taken the time to learn on their own? Yes, I believe students should take ownership of their learning and yes, I believe they should have some input on what they are learning.  However, if we allow students to completely dictate what they will learn, are we not essentially downplaying our roles as teachers as well as our importance in the classroom?

This all came about after I watched a short video this morning with the disclaimer, “All high school English teachers need to watch this”.  So I did as I was told, being a dutiful high school English teacher.  The entire video consisted of interviews of high school students confessing to the camera how they have never read a book assigned in English class, and instead relied on class discussions and SparkNotes to get the basic idea of the book in order to write the required essay at the end.  Sad, but not completely unknown.  I’ve known this happens for years, however, here is my philosophy regarding this phenomenon:  Not all kids do not read the books and I can tell who has not, so I will not stop assigning classic literature which does not “appeal” to high school students.  I will not change my philosophy just because some do not read.  The students on the video seemed, in my eyes, a bit bashful about admitting such a travesty.  However, the part that irritated me was the underlying message (from assumingly well-meaning educators) that the kids are not reading because the teacher is “making” them read books they do not like.  If we would just let them read books they want to read, this whole problem would be solved.  No, problem not solved.  Cultural literacy is necessary as a basis of understanding for all subjects; without it, there is a notable hole in a student’s knowledge.  To quote E.D. Hirsch, proponent for cultural literacy in education, “We have ignored cultural literacy in thinking about education. We ignore the air we breathe until it is thin or foul. Cultural literacy is the oxygen of social intercourse.”  It’s what binds us together as a society and is the reason why I “make” my kids read “The Great Gatsby” and “Of Mice and Men“.  I feel I need to expose the kids to literature they would never have read otherwise; it is my job as their teacher.

But to channel the inner Kelly Gallagher in me, I do allow choice in the classroom as well.  Balance is good.  I incorporate the SSR philosophy on Fridays – the students are able to bring in any book of choice to read in class for the period.  I have stopped feeling as if I need to attach assignments to this reading; instead I want them to feel as if they are reading in an authentic environment.  When I read a book at home, no one gives me a quiz on it nor makes me create a poster about a character nor write an essay about the plotline.  No, I believe they should read for the sheer pleasure of reading – that is what makes lifelong readers, I’m convinced.  If they do not like a book, I tell them to pitch it and find something else, since that is what I do as a reader.  This is my balance and I tell my students that I expect them to read what I would like them to read and in turn, I will let them read what they want to read.  Sometimes I even read books which they suggest to me; it’s a compromise and so far it has worked really well.  I also explain to them my philosophy of wanting them to have a solid literary base so they will understand references to these books in society and they respond well to that.  An example of a student noticing literary references occurred in my room a few weeks ago and went like this:

 Student:  Mrs. Polen, do you watch “Modern Family“?

 Me:  Yes, I love it!

 Student:  Did you see last night when Jay asked Manny if he was trying to be Gatsby because Manny was dressed like Gatsby to go golfing?  That was hysterical and I got it!

 Me:  Yep!  I’m so glad your mean English teacher tortured you and made you read “Gatsby”.

To get off my soapbox, I end with a few things I would like my students to know:

1.  Do not take the easy way out of assignments.  It will always come back to haunt you.  Karma is a butt-kicker!

2.  I really do not sit up at night dreaming up ways to make your life miserable by “making” you read books you do not “want” to read.  I do it because I want you to be well-educated when you walk out of my room at the end of the year.  I do it because I do not want you sitting in a college class two years from now wishing your English teacher had “made” you read some classic literature so you feel you are on an even playing field with the rest of the students in your class.  I do it because I want you to have a solid cultural base so you “get it” when you watch “Modern Family” and they reference “Gatsby”.

3.  Soak in all you can while in high school.  You are receiving a free education.  There are people who are dying to go to school and cannot for socio-economic or governmental reasons.  Sorry to sound like a mother (or my mother), but it’s so true.  Right now, this is your job to learn as much as you can so you can be a responsible citizen later in life.  We have enough people who are not, so do not bow to societal pressure to just “get by” while in school. Please.

4.  I will always work with you when you are reading tough literature.  But here’s the deal – I will not do the work for you.  You need to put in some effort as well and at least try.  I give big kudos just for trying and none for not trying!  You know what I love?  When students challenge themselves and do something they never thought they could do.  That is so cool and makes me love my job.

I think I will ask my students to read this post since we are now blogging in class and responding to each other’s posts.  I’m curious to hear their responses and I think it will generate some great class discussions.  Bet they can’t find any information for that discussion on “SparkNotes”…

Autonomy in the Classroom: The Ultimate Motivator

An amazing thing has happened this month in my classroom.  As I sit here and write this, my students are sitting, deep in thought and typing, typing, typing on their iPads.  The only sounds I hear are the clicking of the keyboards, the creak of the tables and chairs, the soft music through the speakers and the occasional, “Mrs. Polen, I need some help” or, “Mrs. Polen, can you read this and tell me what you think?” Students are lying on the floor, some have their feet propped up on chairs, most have headphones in their ears; they are comfortable and in their favorite comfortable writing positions.  What are they doing, you may ask?  Simple:  Nanowrimo.  What is Nanowrimo?  Only the most fabulous, motivating and creative project out there for English teachers. Let me explain.Nanowrimo is an online writing community which uses the month of November as “National Novel Writing Month” (hence, the “Nanowrimo”).  They ask students to create an online profile on their website, choose a word count goal which determines how many words the students will write during the month of November (between 10,000 and 50,000 words) and provide a word count validator for students to upload their novel into in order to determine their progress in reaching that goal.  For the hard-working and dedicated students who do reach their goal, they receive a code which will entitle them to publish their novels for FREE!  Yes, free!  And it’s a high-quality paperback book which can then be sold on Amazon.  It’s amazing what opportunity this provides for the students and it’s also amazing how motivated my students become.  And bonus for the teacher, the website also provides well-developed lesson plans to ready the students for their month of writing through a high school curriculum workbook (also available for younger grades as well).  Truly, well thought out and well supported; this is a project I’ve done for the past three years and will continue to do so every year I am in the classroom.

What I love most about it is the autonomy it provides the students.  They take complete ownership of this project and look at me oddly when I tell them they can do what they want with it.  Here is a small list of the questions I receive when I first introduce this project:

*How long does this novel have to be?
*What does it have to be about?
*Can I write a book of poetry or short stories instead of a full novel?
*I can really get my book published?

I love the looks on their faces when I tell them they can write about anything they’d like, the length is up to them and yes, their book can get published if they meet their word-count goal. I also love that when I tell them the entire class period is theirs to write and they jump when the bell rings; they cannot believe they’ve been writing all period.  This shows me they’ve experience true “flow” that occurs when doing something creative.  To me, that is what education is about and I love being able to give them that gift. It also drives home the fact that students will perform beyond expectations if given a challenge which motivates them; November is the perfect reminder of that for me!

Want more information?  www.ywp.nanowrimo.org

Frustration Acceleration…Moving Past the Learning Curve

Well, the iPad cart finally arrived in my room two weeks ago. Truth be told, the sight of it produced a mixed bag of emotions ranging from happiness to trepidation. I can only liken it to anticipating Christmas day; wanting it to arrive so badly, yet being afraid it will not live up to expectations. Yet, there it was, being rolled into my classroom and the moment finally arrived when all the planning, talking and thinking about these iPads had to be put into action!

Assigning and organizing was first and foremost for me. As I’ve written before, I wanted to name each iPad after a famous author in addition to numbering them in order to assign each to a student. A colleague gave me a chart which had a space for numbers, names and serial numbers, so I had one class fill out the serial numbers on the chart since that would have taken a million years to do on my own! Then I typed the authors’ names and the corresponding numbers on paper, printed and laminated them and taped them on the tables; each iPad then had a ‘resting place’ on the tables. This allows me to do a quick visual to make sure all iPads are there before dismissing the students each period. This has worked really well, but has since been replaced by pictures of iPads with the author’s book cover within the frame of the iPad. Hard to explain, so see picture below.

(Love this! Thanks V and B, my former students who did this for me as well as the matching bulletin board. I’ve included that picture as well.)

Since the organizing is now done, we’ve (my classes and I) been stumbling through the first few weeks with many challenges and frustrations. For example, the iPads would kick the wireless off, the cookies needed turned on, Google was fussy and not cooperating, kids forgot passwords and a myriad of other roadblocks have gotten in our way. But today-today everything went without a hitch! We looked up articles on Ebsco and cited them in Noodletools. We explored an online study guide about ‘The Great Gatsby’ and discussed the symbolism within the first two chapters. We took a quiz using a Google form. And everything worked! I can honestly say it was one of those days I’d like to run through the copy machine. Now I realize this will probably not be the norm, but today gave me hope that getting involved in this iPad pilot program is worth all the blood, sweat and tears which have gone into it!

Rearranging My Classroom…a’la Apple Store

I teach high school English, so my room is typically set up in a horseshoe-type design to help facilitate discussions, since that is a main component of my curriculum.  I have tables, not desks, so it’s a little different from the typical classroom.  While this set-up worked well last year, I was a little concerned how this would work while using the iPads this school year.  It was truly one of the first things I thought about when I knew I would be getting them; what would be the best set-up while using the iPads?  I wanted something that would best support the student collaboration I envision when I introduce the iPads to my students and they are using them each day.

Having said this, I was on Twitter one day and found a blog post about the advantages of setting up a classroom like an Apple store.  And do you think I can find that blog post now?  Of course not!  But I swear I read it and having had just been at the Apple store in Legacy Village in Cleveland, I had a picture in my mind of how I wanted my room (wish I had the millions Apple spends on its stores to make them so pretty!).  There were stations located around the store at which six people could explore different Mac Books and iPads.  I went to an iPad workshop there in the summer, and having six people sitting around one table allowed for good discussion and collaboration, but it was not chaotic because of the small number of the group.  So, I decided to follow this concept in my own classroom.  I put two tables together in each group which allows for four to five students to sit together, work together and learn together.  It was not rocket science, but it was a welcomed change and the lay-out allows for me to walk easily between the desks so I can monitor and talk with the students as they work.  It may not seem like a huge deal, but I feel this format will help the students get the most from their experience with the iPads.  Now, if I could just find that original blog post that gave me the idea in the first place…

Thank you to L.H.-she found it for me: http://web.me.com/timholt/Intended_Consequences_v._2.0/Intended_Consequences/Entries/2011/2/17_Your_Classroom_as_an_Apple_Store.html

The Last Week of Summer (a.k.a. ‘The Calm Before the Storm’)

We educators love summer…it’s the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. This is not to imply that I dislike my job; on the contrary, I love my job and have no idea what I would do if someone told me I was no longer able to teach. But I need time to refresh and recharge to be at my best. This applies not only to teaching, but to my personal life as well. This is why I get up early every morning to exercise before anyone else is awake in my house. This is why I love my plan period at school and I get 42 minutes to myself (some days, but not many). This is why I still need to take a quick nap before going out after a long day (my affinity for nap-taking is a running joke among my friends). It’s just part of my make-up and who I am. So, summer is a welcomed break from the craziness and chaos that can be a part of the teaching profession.

Admittedly, however, August inevitably is the time when I begin to crave being back in my classroom and the security that a structured schedule allows. I want that both for myself and for my two girls (their days of sleeping until 10:00 are now numbered, much to their dismay). Now it is August 21 and I start school in two days. Two days. The mere thought makes me so very nervous and excited at the same time. But this is a different kind of nervous than the typical first-day jitters; this is due in part to the implementation of the iPads in my classroom this year. I want it to go well, but realize this is going to be a learning curve for me, the students, the other teachers involved in the program, the administrators and the tech department. There will be hiccups along the way. But I think I’m ready…

In the meantime, I am going to enjoy my last 48 hours of summer. I am now returning from a fun weekend camping trip at the beach, I’m going to finish the first ‘Harry Potter’ book which I finally started ten years too late (my daughter is reading the second one in the pictures) and I’m going to enjoy spending time with my kids. I will relax and be as calm as I can as I get ready for the storm.

And I will fret as I think about everything I still need to do as I finish preparing for this new school year…

Singing the Praises of Twitter as a Professional Development Tool

Twitter. The word itself invoked my eyeballs to roll involuntarily. Twitter? Tweeting? Really? Who thought of this? Telling the world your thoughts in 140 characters or less? It seemed silly and frivolous to me. So, I never investigated it and pushed it into the “Will Not Use” section of my mind. Did that make me a “Twitter Snob”? Perhaps. Am I proud of that? No, of course not. Even last summer when my good friend and fellow teacher tried to sell me on the advantages of using Twitter as an educator, I balked and could not bring myself to open that door and walk through it.

However, something piqued my interest in Twitter this summer. Honestly, I can’t remember if it was a television program about it or an article I may have read online. Whatever it was, one day last month I was sitting on my back porch with my iPad and decided to take a look at it. Before I knew it, I was creating a profile (just in case, but I would never need it) and reading what others had written. Slowly but surely it dawned on me that this might actually be something worth looking into. Suddenly, I found myself looking online to see the best way to use Twitter (hashtags can be confusing at first), then I began looking for people to “follow” (it does feel a bit stalker-ish) who were involved in education and technology. Surprisingly, I began to get requests for others to follow me as well. That was an experience at first since I neglected to set my settings as private…I read some very interesting tweets as a result! Note: Set your profile as private or you will be in for a real education! Have not had a problem since doing so…

Anyway, in the past month I have been on Twitter, I have learned more about my profession and have gained more ideas than in all the conferences and workshops I’ve attended in the past few years combined. I cannot believe this whole community of educators have been online all this time and I’ve been missing out…I feel a bit like the only girl in her 3rd grade class who didn’t get the invitation to the popular girl’s party. I have gained access to blogs and websites pertaining to iPads in the classroom which contain a plethora of information, I have been inspired to do a complete makeover of my syllabus after reading a tweet about just that, I have been given ideas about how to use Twitter in my classroom with my students. In short, I have learned so much and I cannot wait everyday to see what else I can discover. It’s a bit like going to a garage sale – I can skim over the “junk” that doesn’t interest me as much and zero in on the good stuff, the treasure, the jackpot! I love the idea of searching through to pick out what is best suited to me, my students and my classroom. As a result, I, the former Twitter snob, have been singing the praises of Twitter and will continue to do so. Especially with using the iPads this year since I feel it will be a fantastic resource and will probably now be my first line of defense if I have a problem or a question about them.

Twitter. I still hate the name and I don’t think I can ever say the word “tweet” with a straight face. But as a teacher, I now understand the positive impact Twitter has and will continue to have on education. Here’s hoping that others will put aside their prejudices as I have and discover the advantages of using Twitter as a professional development tool. Yes, Twitter. As a professional development tool. Miracles never cease.

Note: For those new to Twitter, check out this link on how to use it effectively:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/infographic-twitter-effectively/

Starting Out…Which Apps to Use in My English Classroom?

After a summer of researching and digging deeper into this world of the iPad and the gazillion apps that are available for education (overwhelming to say the least), I had to narrow down what I would use in my English classroom. This was an extremely difficult task to say the least. Fortunately, part of the iPad Pilot Program involves five other fantastic teachers and a great media specialist who are all willing to share their ideas with the rest of us. If I have learned anything in my over ten years of teaching, it’s that without collaboration and sharing with colleagues, no one is at their best in the classroom. An open line of communication is necessary in order to learn, vent and challenge ourselves to grow professionally. So, with the help of these other teachers, I was able to make some decisions about the apps I felt would work best with my class and my teaching style. I’ve listed most of them below:

*Noterize – To use for notetaking. Honestly, I liked Evernote better since it’s more aesthetically pleasing because of its ability to clip images and websites directly to the app. However, it does not upload to Google Docs, which is what I’ll have the kids using for file storage. So I’ll start out with Noterize with high hopes that Evernote will jump on the Google Docs bandwagon (maybe an email from me is in order?).

*NPR – To use for current events and class discussions. Love, love this app! So many author interviews, podcasts, etc. and bonus – it’s free! What’s not to love?

*Flipboard – To use for current events and class discussions. It’s a news magazine but the pictures and types of articles will easily keep students’ attention.

*HitPad – Again, to use for current events and class discussions. But the really cool aspect of this app is that it researches a topic for you. For example, it lists a topic and shows all the websites, videos and Twitter posts related to that topic and all on one app. Great to help cure “information overload” when students are browsing the web for information about a topic. One-stop internet shopping! It’s like the Wal-Mart of the internet – a shopper can buy waffles, shampoo, tires and guns all at the same store…one-stop shopping!

*Literary Analysis – This really is a useful app which gives definitions of literary analysis terms and examples of their uses in text. One goal I have is to have the students add these literary terms into their lexicon and I think this app will help in this.

*iMovie – I’m still pretty new to iMovie and how it works, but from what I’ve learned so far – wow! My idea with iMovie is to separate the students into groups and have each group create one news segment which will be shown on the large-screen TV’s in our school. This will make it so easy for them to complete and I’m looking forward to learning more about what it can do. Interested? Check out this great website which teachers can use to get the students started using iMovie: www.speedofcreativity.org

*iTalk – To help prepare students for oral presentations. What better way to self-assess their public speaking skills than to have them actually listen to themselves?

*iBooks – I’ve tried the Nook app on my iPad, but wasn’t crazy about the way it looked on the screen. I also figured using iBooks for my online books would make more sense since it’s on an iPad and would be most compatible. Also, students can open many documents in iBooks and save them on their shelves, which I thought was a neat option.

*Prezi Viewer – I didn’t realize the iPad requires this app to watch Prezis made on the Prezi website. Now I know and got the app!

*Dictionary Word Book – How nice to be able to say to students, “Look it up on your iPad”, when they ask me what a word means. I think this will invoke much less groaning and eyeball rolling than when they have to use an actual dictionary.

I’m sure there are a couple that I’m leaving out, but this is the vast majority. Like I mentioned before, we will be using Google Docs for writing, sharing and saving. My hope is that this will eliminate the myriad of excuses that always accompany the writing and completion of papers in the computer lab when using flashdrives or saving on the network server (“I lost my flashdrive”, “I couldn’t finish my paper at home because it was saved on the server at school”, etc.). As long as students have access to the internet, they will have access to their work. I think this will make my life and their lives so much easier.

We’ll see how these initial apps go! I’m sure there will be some that will not work out and others that I need to have on the iPads. I’m open to any suggestions of apps that others have used and have really liked, so please feel free to comment if you have any opinions on this. One thing I need to remember is to take it slowly and I will try not to use all these apps at once; the kids need to learn how to use them one at a time…