More Digital Storytelling Memory Objects

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I was able to grab the cart of Macs yesterday and give students some time to keep working on their digital stories, which are an extension of our narrative paragraph writing around a memory object. Luckily, the Internet worked fine for gathering music (the connections were a little slow but they worked). I think we still need one more day for the last group who spent a little too much time yesterday either chatting or listening to music (and not choosing a piece), but I’ll get that done when I can.

Peace (in the technology),
Kevin

At the 4Cs: Our NWP Connections

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On Friday, I will be in Atlanta for the annual Conference on College Composition and Communication (4cs) and I am presenting an early morning session with some fellow National Writing Project/Western Massachusetts Writing Project colleagues– Anne Herrington, our site director and a professor at the University of Massachusetts; Donna LeCourt, a member of our WMWP technology team and a professor at the University of Mass, and Elyse Eidman-Aadahl, a co-director of  the National Writing Project.

Our talk is entitled “Broadening our Community to Reaffirm Connections with K-12 Educators” and our goal is to explore the connections between the university and the classroom, with the National Writing Project as a model for how those connections are made and nurtured.

Of course, our focus will shift a bit, given the latest news that the federal government has cut out all of its funding support for NWP, so we will be framing some of our discussion around what that change may mean for teachers and universities. (on a side note, the #blog4nwp effort continues to grow — read through the more than 200 blog posts so far in support of the Writing Project. It’s not too late to add your voice.)

My own part of this talk is entitled  “An NWP Site’s Teacher and Student Collaborations on Digital Projects,” and I have been thinking of what I can talk about in my 15 minutes or so. There are so many connections that have been made with the National Writing Project and so many ways in which my students have benefited from those connections.

So, here is an outline of my path of talking (still subject to change).

For me, the teacher

  • First year teacher — WMWP opened up my eyes to the value of what we now call PLC — that of teachers coming together to share and support and nurture each other.
  • Blogging in the Summer Institute with WMWP colleagues — realized the potential of blogging as a writing platform for my students — as publishing space, authentic audience, peer feedback
  • Led to Tech Friends (social networking space for NWP teachers across the country); the Collaborative ABC Movie Project; and the iAnthology (inspired by the eAnthology) which is now home to almost 450 NWP teachers for writing.
  • The Digital Is site is the latest iteration of collaborating for shared knowledge, with a focus on digital learning and how technology is shifting the way we teach and the way we learn.

For my students, collaboration opportunities

  • The Electronic Pencil — my classroom’s online home
  • The Flat Stanley Project (with fellow WMWP teacher Sara Palmer)
  • Blogging with DC (Maria Angala)– an online poetry collaboration
  • Making Connections — blogging with middle school students
  • Longfellow 10 Movie Site — movies by students
  • Youth Radio — podcasting with schools around the world
  • Voices on the Gulf — environmental exploration
  • Summer Writing Projects (through WMWP partnership with a local vocational high school) — Webcomics, Stopmotion Movies, Digital Storytelling, and Gaming.

The benefits of these connections/Projects

  • Authentic writing spaces
  • Authentic audiences
  • Fosters collaborative nature
  • Using technology for meaningful work and learning
  • The connections as WMWP/NWP teacher allowed me to tap into knowledge and expertise, explore it and then bring it into the classroom.

Peace (in the connections),
Kevin

Giving 25-Word-Stories a Poetic Touch

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I periodically jump into Twitter to write short, short stories — known by the hashtag of #25wordstories. In the past week, as poetry has been front and center, I’ve been trying to cross-pollinate the concept of 25-word-stories with a poetic theme.  My aim has not been to write poetry in Twitter, which I also do from time to time, but instead, to write a story with a poetic touch or theme. Alas, some are better than others. The limits of Twitter really makes things interesting and difficult. And certainly challenging.

Here is what I have so far:

What would you write? And if you do it on Twitter, use the #25wordstory hashtag. (There is also a #poemaday hashtag for daily poetry writing and a #poetweet for folks using Twitter for writing poetry as a tweet.)
Peace (in the stories),

Kevin

What I did: I Wrote Poetry

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We had one of those very odd weather days yesterday, when snow closed down my school (because of the elevation and bus routes) but not my sons’ schools. My wife was in DC, lobbying for the National Writing Project as part of the effort to restore federal funding. So, it was me and our dog for a few hours. I did chores and in-between, I wrote.

I started out with the Global Poem Project, adding a few lines to a collaborative writing project. (See more about it in my post from yesterday.)

Then, I ventured out onto Bud Hunt’s site, where he is posting an image each day and asking us to write poems inspired by the pictures. Yesterday, the prompt was about what keeps you up at night. (by the way, come join us at Bud’s site.)

Confusion
begets dreams
begets hours of wakefulness
of missed opportunities which
begets regrets
which in turn
begets confusion.

Then, I saw that one of my NWP friends, April, had written a haiku at her blog site. I was reading it — it’s about a blind date — when I realized that a good comment might be a haiku, too. So I wrote one from the other side of the story of her haiku.

nervous energy –
inside, he sees the mirror;
and combs back his hair.

I noticed another NWP friend, Andrea, had a poem, too. (She is part of a #poemaday twitter feed). Her poem was about kids and clothing and the metaphor of growing up and growing out of things. Again, I was struck by her poem and found myself writing a haiku response.

Bags of your clothing
sit ready for donation;
parting is sorrow

And then, yet another NWP friend, Joel (starting to see a connection in my network of teacher-writers?) had a great poem about April Fools and the weather, which was on my mind, too, as I looked out our window to the trees dripping with snow. He referenced the groundhog in his poem, so I thought a way to comment w0uld be a poem from the groundhog’s viewpoint.

A Groundhog’s Response

Just because I came up
doesn’t mean
I know what
I’m doing;
Sometimes, I am just
coming up for air
and sunshine.
You try living down in a hole
sometime
and see how you like it
and add to the cramped quarters
the pressure of expectations.
It’s not the shadow that scares me;
it’s you people.

Finally, I had my guitar out (dog at my feet) and was trying to work on a new song. This is what came out. I don’t necessarily feel it will go anywhere beyond this demo, but songwriting is poetry, right? I have been trying to write something about Japan — something true. But I have been failing miserably for days on it, to be honest. I can’t quite get the right song or emotion. So, this started out as a song about Japan, but veered sharply away at some point.

Lost and Found
(listen)

When the shadows are falling
and the voices are calling
and the world is storm
brewing at sea

Will you hold me together?
Will you offer me shelter?
Will you keep me forever
if that’s what I need?

‘Cause I feel the Earth tearing apart
if you reach out your hand — I’ll give you my heart
I feel I’ve been lost
’til you found me

Well, we all have this fire
this burning desire
to shed off the past
as history

But somehow it finds us
it’s never behind us
I’m no longer the man
I used to be

I refuse to allow the pain to creep in
I’m shouting out loud — please let me in
I feel I’ve been lost
’til you found me

Peace (in the writing),
Kevin

The Writer in Me: Slice of Life, NWP, and More

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slice of life 2011
I’m never more of a writer than in March, when the annual Slice of Life challenge rolls around with Two Writing Teachers. Every day (except I got started late this year because, eh, I forgot to get started), a bunch of teachers and writers zero in a small moment of their day and write about it. This is at least the third year I have been doing this with Ruth and Stacey, and so many others (some days, there were up to 80 links for slices), and I find the prospect of knowing I am going to be writing the next morning sharpens my attention on small things: a conversation, an observation, a new angle on a familiar idea.

Up above, you can see the Wordle that I created from all of my posts this year. I guess it is no surprise that “writing” would loom large and that “students” is not far behind. I wrote a lot about my classroom, and that reflective stance is what writing as an educator is all about.

That stance is also direct nod to the influence on my teaching from the National Writing Project, which taught me how to see myself as a writer. NWP folks showed me the way forward into using writing to think through what is working in my classroom and what is not, and if it is not, then what needs to change. The National Writing Project gave me space to develop these skills. During my month-long Summer Institute at the Western Massachusetts Writing Project, when we had long stretches of writing time, I felt as if I came into my own as a reflective writer, and I’ve never looked back.

Sure, it helped finding an online home here on this blog, but even that was spurred on by my work with NWP, where my good friend and mentor Paul Oh showed us all about blogging in a summer when that term was still foreign to most of our ears, and most of the world (right before Howard Dean realized the power of the blog for political campaigning). We were among the first Summer Institutes to not only use blogging, but to reflect on its possibilities, which you see unfolding all around you: collaboration, authentic audience, peer feedback, etc.

Blogging then connected me with others, such as the Two Writing Teachers community (which I found with help from another NWP friend, Bonnie). That, in turn, has helped me help others, with hosting of Day in a Sentence, and nurturing various online writing communities and projects (such as the Collaborative ABC Movie Project with Bonnie). NWP continues to lead us into the digital age with its amazing Digital Is site, where teachers are writing and reflecting on how technology is changing learning and teaching practices.

Do you see how I connect the dots? Do you see how the National Writing Project was the start of so much of that push forward for me, as a teacher of writing and also as a teacher of technology? Don’t you wonder about those teachers who won’t get that chance now that the NWP has lost its federal funding? What collaborative and explorative projects WON’T now happen? It’s  a bit self-centered, of course, but it frustrates me to think that the new wave of amazing young and veteran teachers with their own amazing ideas of teaching might not get the chance to inform me as a teacher if the NWP network is diminished.

That person might even be you, and I want you to be part of us. I want you to help me become a better teacher. I know my connections with others won’t fall apart if NWP changes, but NWP is a lifeline for so many teachers and writers, and teacher-writers. It’s important.

If you get the chance, drop an email to your representative or senator, urging support for NWP. Or if you blog about NWP, please add it to the hundreds of blog posts that are gathering at the Blog4NWP site. We’re shooting for a thousand posts by next week but still have a way to go. There’s room for your voice. That’s the NWP way.

Peace (in the reflection),
Kevin

A Global Poem Project

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I saw this project and could not resist adding a line. It’s a Global Poem for Change Project by LitWorld, and they have started a poem with the help of poet Naomi Shihab Nye. The poem is open to the world to contribute a line, so that the poem slowly grows with each contributing poet. And the theme of peace and global change for the better is at the heart of the project.

Here’s the line that I added:

I sent my thoughts out from my heart
a small step, but it’s a start

Go ahead — you come, too. The door is open for you for a single poetic line.

Peace (in the collaboration),
Kevin

PS — here is more information:
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March Book Madness Ends; Now, Read

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And so, I end the March Book Madness feature, where I have been trying to highlight both books that my students have been reading and the projects they created in an independent book unit. (and I tossed in a few of my own reviews here and there). Most of my students used Glogster; some went a more traditional poster route. All worked hard to show their understanding of the books and to create a visual recommendation of the book they had read.

Here are all of the Glogster Projects again. I hope you enjoyed it all. Now, go read.
You need Flash plugin!
Peace (in the pages),
Kevin

Slice of Life: From Quidditch fields to Baseball fields

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Slice of Life 2011I would be remiss not to write more about Quidditch and baseball before the Slice of Life challenges ends today. I’m somewhat avoided these topics because I felt like it would be Groundhog Day — echoing what I have written for SOL in the last few years in March (it’s amazing how much of our life really does repeat itself, if we take a close look.)

First up, we took our students on a field trip yesterday to an indoor soccer arena, where we had an entire (and exhausting) day of sports activities. There was soccer. There was dodgeball. And there was our game of Quidditch. We (Atomic Blur) played against two other sixth grade class teams in scrimmage, without keeping score. We’ll play our third team in scrimmage in two weeks, just days before the 2011 Quidditch Tournament at our school (where all four sixth grade classes compete for the Quidditch Cup). Next week, we’ll be doing artwork and coming up with plays.

I know I have written this before but: I truly do have one of the nicest classes I have had in years. I see it in the classroom, of course. I see it in the hallways. But on the Quidditch field — where they get very passionate and we have to temper some competitive spirit when it gets too intense — they were marvelous to coach and wonderful to watch. They were supportive of each other. They were cheering each other on. High fives, everywhere. The game seemed to bring out the best in just about everyone.

I know some of you may be wondering: what is this game of Quidditch you play? Here’s a video we made two years ago (for our tenth anniversary of the game) to show others how to play it.

Second, my middle son had his first little league baseball practice yesterday. Once again, I am one of the assistant coaches. Really, I am just “helper man.” We had our “draft” the other night, which I usually write about but didn’t this year, and we got a good crop of kids, it seems. The strange twist this year was that there were not enough little league kids to field all the teams (more are playing lacrosse than every before) so our team got folded into another team.

My son was fine with that shift (except for losing his team name and the color shirt, which used to be yellow and now will be green), since now he is on a team with two of his best friends, and we have more older kids who have played this level than any other team. I think we may be the favorites this season, which would be nice, since it has been a few years of awful, terrible records (but still fun). We have more talent this year than ever.

My arm is a bit sore from throwing the ball for the first time since last summer, but it was fun to see the kids tossing the ball, hitting on the diamond, and catching fly balls. That sound of the ball smacking the glove, and the laughter of young players back on the field, is spring to me.

And now — a winter storm might be rolling in. Just in time for April …

Peace (on the fields),
Kevin

Success, Struggles with Digital Storytelling

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The post I would like to share today is about how smoothly everything went with our digital storytelling project (see my first and second posts about the project).  I’d like to say how wonderfully productive the day was, and how prepared I was for anything that might happen.

I can’t do that.

There were good things. Just about every single one of my students (that’s about 80) now have their images and narration layered into iMovie for their digital story. They worked hard; they helped each other. I was zooming around the room, offering on-the-spot help and tutorials, asking them to explain what they were doing.

But, the struggle was with going online to use FreeplayMusic to download some soundtrack music. It’s a longer story, but we ran out of IP addresses, and more than two-thirds of the classes were unable to connect, leaving their digital stories without music. And here, I did this whole lesson around choosing a piece of music that is emotionally connected to the tone of your digital story. Lack of music is now a huge gap in their stories.

And, I was frustrated because I had no back-up plan. I didn’t have time to download a bunch of songs onto a flash drive, and I wouldn’t have had time to run around dumping the folder onto laptops.  And it would have gone against the grain of what I had told them — the choosing of their music is personal and emotional, etc. I was flustered and for kids who were done and left with little to do, I had then play around with ComicLife and PhotoBooth. I had no plan for them, and I was still working with others on their digital stories (I did recruit some helpers.)

Our tech person was able to show me how to delete old IP addresses from the server (and a fix is coming, with an upgrade to our network in April), and I thought that would be fine for my last class. But we ran into the same problems, until the very end of the class, when a student suggested we just click on the wireless icon and reset the connection. Doh. That worked, but it was too late. Class was over.

I had hoped to be done, but it seems like I need another class period to get this last step completed. I am proud of the work they are doing and I am amazed at how resilient they were in the face of difficulties. They were frustrated, but they shrugged it off – quicker than I could. I guess technology fails regularly enough in their lives that they accept it as a possibility.

Which isn’t to say that there weren’t digital stories created. Some of the kids who were on the Internet were able to complete their projects. A sampler of some of them is at the top of this post.

Peace (in the digital age),
Kevin