BrainPop as a Staple of Effective Content and Technology Integration

BrainPop as a Staple of Effective Content and Technology Integration

 Times are changing.  It is no longer enough to know content.  The days of "reading, writing, and 'rithmatic" for the sake of passing a test are gone.  As educators, it is now our obligation to guide students through problem solving situations that require content knowledge and building, collaboration, and resourcefulness in order to successfully find a solution...if there is a solution at all.  As a second grade teacher, I found this transition of pedagogy easier in math and science than I did for language arts.  

Seven and eight year old children are still learning to read.  I found myself in a quandary about how to establish this type of critical thinking requirement in reading and writing.  I developed the iConnect Project as an overlying concept that required students to engage in literature on a deeper level.  I came up with the "iConnect" concept while thinking about ways to bring a more well-rounded, meaningful learning experience to my students. As part of the iConnect movement in my class, our focus is on how we connect to our curriculum and making connections across our curriculum, but more importantly, how we connect to each other and our world. Through the overlying iConnect concept, we connect with authors and discuss the joy of the writing process, the deeper meanings and effects of good literature, and explore a variety of genres and writing styles. We also be connect with classes across the world in a literary fair that brings an engagement in reading and understanding text, but also teaches an appreciation for new cultures and ideas.  It is our ambition to connect with others in meaningful ways to enhance learning for all.  

The Magic Tree House Literary Fair began as a book club for my class and campus.  It snowballed into a multimedia literary festival of cultural exchange.  Participants in this innovative reading collaboration commit to reading the Magic Tree House series of fiction and non-fiction companion books by Mary Pope Osborne. Throughout this journey, they share the joy of reading with students around the world from over 7 different countries. Students  share through social networking sites such as Edmodo to make literary connections through reading responses, book analysis, author studies, and more. They also engage in a multimedia collaboration and compete with each other in expressing their literary experience using Web 2.0 tools, gaming, and community service projects. Students work together in mixed groups from around the world and submit their work for judging.  In order to enhance the comprehension of the text, and offer substantial content from which students may pull information to complete their projects, I needed to include reliable, engaging, accurate, and comprehensive digit content.  BrainPop and BrainPop, Jr. were obvious choices.  BrainPop is so much more than a cute, quick movie.  We are moving away from consumption in learning toward a new era of productive learning.  BrainPop offers exceptional content for student consumption while also providing many opportunities for students to engage in and apply what they learn.  The educator's section offers lesson plans and activities, blogs and a network from which teachers can find new and innovative ideas for integration into their curriculum.  This project has been recognized by Microsoft Partners in Learning as a 2012 US Forum Winner and a 2012 PIL Global Forum finalist, representing the United States in the Global Forum, November 2012 in Prague, Czech Republic!! 

 Successful integration requires ingenuity, innovation, breaking out of one's comfort zone.  It requires letting go of control and giving it back to the students.  It is being a guide and facilitator, rather than a lecturer.  There are so many sites that allow you to use quality digital content in an effective way as a tool for productive technology integration.  BrainPop is a solid example of one of those sites!

BrainPop Website

Reacting to the New Town Tragedy:  Answering Questions

I have seen and heard many anticipatory statements about how today will go. 

 "Will it be difficult to go back to the classroom? 

Will it be difficult to handle the impending yet unanswerable questions?

 Will it be difficult to reassure the kids and families of their safety at your school?" 

 I am here to say that though ALL of our hearts are broken, and ALL of our sense of security in the world is shaken, today will be just like every other day in my class. We will laugh, learn, play, connect, validate each other's thoughts and feelings. We will lift each other up, encourage each other, support each other. We will high five, give "knucks", innovate, create, and share. This tragedy isn't going to change how I teach or react and interact with my students...it shouldn't. I teach and cultivate a learning environment where students feel safe, loved, appreciated, and valued by ALL of us everyday. It is what we do anyway, tragedy or not. 

So will it be difficult to go into work? 

NOPE. I am excited for the learning that will take place today and this week! I am excited to see them and learn from them. 

Will it be difficult to handle the impending yet unanswerable questions? 

 NOPE. The answer is the same, "You matter, you are loved, and you are safe." No need to address anything else with 2nd graders. They know there are bad guys out there, but we just learned that a lot of the time good will prevail, so...I think they should hang onto that. We all should. Bad things happen, yes, and this certainly was horrific. For the parents of the fallen, it is the most unimaginable horror. But if it changes an entire population's perspective and way of thinking for the better...well, then at least some good resulted. Doesn't make it easier on any of us, nor diminish the pain of brevity of the act. 

 And finally, will it be difficult to reassure your kids and families that they are safe at your school...maybe, but I believe that at least my families and my students know that with ME they are safe. And our entire faculty and staff feel the same way I do. We are family. 

So, I am excited for today. And to honor the kids and teachers who lost their lives Friday, I vow to continue to teach from my soul, to never stop learning, to value and cherish every opportunity to impact a child's life positively, and to do 20 random kindnesses everyday, in their memory. Doesn't take much to constitute a kindness for someone else. And if we all did that, hmmm...

I wish you all a safe, happy, wonderful Monday. Enjoy yourself, your opportunities, every breath. But hold onto this feeling of togetherness we are sharing right now. Don't let it go. 

♥ It's 6:00...TIME TO CHANGE LIVES! :-)

Silencing Learning

When is "Get Quiet!" Actually Silencing Learning?

As an elementary school teacher, I hear two words more often than any others, "No Talking!"  No talking in line, in the hallway, for the first part of lunch, in class, in the gym, at dismissal.  Seven hours a day we are asking...no expecting and enforcing...this notion that quiet denotes something critically beneficial is happening for our students.  Truth is, we silence them because the chatter can be grating at times.  We silence them because we are afraid that if an administrator or parent or colleague should walk by our classroom full of noise it might appear that we do not have control over our classroom. 

But what are we really saying? 
"Be quiet, your voice is meaningless."  
"Be quiet, your thoughts are invalid."  
"You are not worth listening to."  
"You have no power."

I charge that a quiet classroom is a scary place!  We, as adults, talk and collaborate all the time.  We talk, tweet, facebook, blog, and text (and sometimes all at the same time) when we are expected to be listening to administrators or professional development.  It is how we do these things that should be the concern.  Are we sharing ideas?  Highlighting pertinent points?  Asking for clarification?  Are we seeking a deeper level of understanding? 

For this educator, the answer is yes!  I have learned to listen and share ideas simultaneously and thus create for myself a learning experience that far surpasses passively sitting quietly and listening to someone deliver information to me.  I am actively engaged in the lecture, presentation, or conversation! 

Why then, do we not expect students to want to, be able to, or have the social tools to do the same?  Why are we afraid to hear their voices?  When you charge a student with the task to try to solve a social issue, you WANT him/her to believe that his/her voice and opinion, his/her ideas, are valid, worthy of consideration, and powerful enough to affect change.  How can we expect students to become academic risk takers, citizens who speak up against bullying, problem solvers, and secure people if we are constantly asking them to BE QUIET!?  How can we expect students to write effectively and eloquently enough to excel (or sometimes just to pass) the state assessment if they have minimal experience expressing, refining, and listening to communication and thoughtful academic dialogue?  It seems counter-intuitive to expect them to journal a reading response, or critique, or math problem explanation, or scientific conclusion if they do not practice expressing their ideas in a variety of ways. 

Some of the most meaningful lessons learned do not come from the curriculum nor the teacher.  They come from the students themselves...when they talk...to others...about their learning.

I understand that there is a time and place for quiet.  Students need to be respectful and attentively listen when another person is speaking.  They need to respect the time others have in the classrooms down the hallway as sacred learning time that should not be interrupted unnecessarily.  But there is such a thing as too much quiet.  And if we continue to demand silence, we just might get what we ask for.  And THAT is a frightening future indeed.

Inspire Authentic Learning

How do you inspire greatness in your students?

Fail.  Disappoint.  Make Mistakes.

Everyday we find ourselves in that critical moment where the spark of authentic learning potential will either fizzle out or ignite into something that will rage joyfully in the minds of the children we teach.  We are given daily opportunities to affect a change in their lives, but how do we recognize that moment?  How do we prevent ourselves from being the ones who stamp out that flame?  Our focus is often distracted by AYP, NCLB, and state standards, but if we are teaching with passion--if we teach from our souls--those distractions will become non-issues.  It really is as simple as that.  

As teachers it is our purpose and our obligation to fail, disappoint, and make mistakes.  

 

We must fail to stop learning, fail to become complacent, fail to be satisfied with our work.  Our world changes at a rate faster than technology ever thought about, yet so many teachers continue to "do what worked last year" simply because it worked last year.  We should always think, "New moment, new student, new opportunity to grow."  

We must disappoint those who truly believe that "those who can do, and those who can't teach."  We must rise above the naysayers and those who would have us be less than we are and can be.  Disappoint anyone who argues that there isn't an art to extraordinary teaching and that our educational system is being left behind by the rest of the world.  

Finally, me MUST make mistakes.  Make them daily...in front of your students...and let them engage in a solution with you.  It is a necessary tool in learning to struggle through a challenge in order to find authentic learning.  Model that it is okay to make mistakes, to get do-overs, to keep trying and failing and trying again.  In this world of instant gratitude THIS alone is one of the greatest gifts we can give our students.  

We are held to expectations that can, at times, seem overwhelming and unfair.  But if we set expectations for ourselves that surpass those by which our state and district set for us...if we hold ourselves accountable to the much higher standards our children deserve...then there really is nothing to prevent us from inspiring greatness and recognizing that moment to fan the flame of learning.

Tuesday October 2, 2012

Joli Barker