Common Core Strategies

I'm going to do something I struggle to do all the time. I'm going to try, try, try to be brief with this post.

The skinny: Attached is a PowerPoint presentation I've shared with colleagues at the school where I work. I expect it will make the most sense to those who are in the profession of teaching, but anyone who is interested in learning what one reading teacher's take is on the Common Core standards and what kinds of activities would do well to support it, are more than welcome to view it too.

Goal: My aim in putting this together was to use the ideas within the presentation to begin a short series of round table discussions with colleagues as what we can do cross-discipline to begin meeting the Common Core standards coming our way very soon.

Several notes to know:

• There is no narration. I've been using the slides as the backdrop to my talks with colleagues. So, I expect some of the threads in the video may be confusing.
• There are numerous links and attachments that come with the PowerPoint which won't be available in this video. If you want a copy of the PP, email me or post here and I will figure out how to get it to you. 
• I do not profess to be the guy when it comes to, well... anything. I think I have a decent handle on the Common Core standards and approaches (mainly from a Language Arts angle, of course) and I do know something about reading and writing strategies. Still, there are far smarter people at work on these things than I. So take what I've slapped together with that in mind. 
• Finally, like anything in teaching, there's really nothing new here. I borrowed from many sources to put this together and it's far from all inclusive either. Again, the aim was to put something together quickly for my colleagues and I to begin the process of discovering what we want to do collectively to meet those Common Core standards. I'm sure this video will go through several alterations before I finally put it to bed.

OK, I'm running off at the keyboard again. Enjoy.

Common Core State Standards -Reading & Writing from RLagana

A Solid Case AGAINST the Old Ways

     I speak with many colleagues and parents during the course of a school year and it's not atypical to hear many of them lament about how "the olds ways were better". PowerPoint works well as an example. PowerPoint is fine and well in the right hands, but students, especially younger students, typically spend more time making their slides look cool than making them instructional.
     Citation is another area I sometimes hear the refrain "the old ways were better". You'll pardon me if I try to hold my gag reflex in check. What!?! It's like they've completely forgotten what it was like to assemble those 3x5 note cards listing author (last name first, first name last), title, date of publication, publisher, origin of publication, etc. only to learn that they missed a comma along the way and most likely a point off their final score. Citing research as a youth was the PowerPoint of my day, without all the fun because I spent as much time looking up MLA, APA, and Chicago styles of citation than I did writing my reports.
     Today, there are a bevy of ways to cite your work with next to no fuss or muss. One of my favorites is Son of Citation Machine, which uses all of the standards listed above plus Turabin style. (I'm not sure what that is either. Don't sweat it.)
     So, say you recently read and researched Seasbiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand. (She's also the author of Unbroken, an amazing story of survival.) Using the "old ways were better" approach, you need to pull and properly put together a list of details regarding the book (see list above); and then everything must be correctly ordered and separated with commas. That process takes time and is, frankly, boring. Using Son of Citation Machine, one need only type in the ISBN number of the book and the nifty on-site tool then spits out the following: 

Hillenbrand, Laura, Seabiscuit: An American Legend. New York: Random House, 2001.

     Who knew citing something could be so exciting? Son of Citation machine works for almost any conceivable form of researchable material. Want to cite your reading from a magazine article? No problem.  A newspaper article? Same. How about an on-line journal article? Easy-peazy. A blog article? OK, not as easy as the previous sources, but doable. By inputting my name (which I can proudly announce I've been spelling well for years), the title of my blog article, the blog site, a date, and then pasting in the URL, you get this:

 Lagana, Ralph. "A Solid Case AGAINST the Old Ways ". Reading Teacher (CT).,  June 12 2012.,  http://readingteacherct.blogspot.com/2012/06/solid-case-against-old-ways.html.

     It's not pretty to look at but it's properly MLA cited. Son of Citation does the really heavy lifting for those who can locate an ISBN number. It's far superior to any of the "old ways" for sure. The website even provides a wonderful rationale for citing -Someday the information that someone else wants to use...will be yours!

No Power in CT but Loads of Electric Moments

Maybe I'm ready to retire from reality, because this posting somehow manages to tie together a novel reading experience with the Great Pumpkin Storm of 2011.

Like so many families in Connecticut, I found myself up most of last Saturday night into Sunday morning, held hostage by the periodic sounds of loud cracking followed by thunderous BOOMS as limb after limb crashed around my property. My family and I went 5 days without precious electricity and despite the loss of power, I had a ball. It wasn't all perfect by any means, but it wasn't terrible -not even close. I saw and got to be a part of many small and sizable gestures of kindness. I also got to experience a new form of reading.

But first, a small side-trek into how our family got through the storm and its aftermath.

Somewhere under the greenery and limbs is my home.

There was something very pleasing, to this guy at least, with having to confront the moment at hand and not worry about work schedules, traffic, the kids' soccer games, and other modern obligations. Without power, we had to scramble for heat, lighting, and preservation of food. We packed items in coolers using the snow, relied on a Napoleon stove and our fireplace for heating and cooking, and used a mish-mosh of candles and rechargeable lanterns for lighting. I love challenges like these. We lost very little food and managed to eat some great meals cooked by grill, heating stove, and fireplace during the week. We're still talking about the potatoes baked in the coals of the fire Our family of five, spent nights on the main floor tending to things, staying warm, and mostly getting along. We even told spooky stories on Halloween. 

It took 3 days to clear all the debris about the house and this happened with the help of our kindly, chainsaw-wielding neighbors. (In my dreams, the neighbors usually chase me with these, but this past week they seemed content focusing their attacks on the downed limbs.) My family and I returned the favor to others when we could and most days flew by as each task needing doing got done.

Survival moments aside, there were opportunities to read and see books, because part of most days were spent walking to Barnes and Noble in town. The primary goal was to recharge our electrical items. The second goal soon became one of sharing stories with neighbors and friends, who happened into the store for similar reasons. When those two missions were finished I was freed to explore books. Trapped in a bookstore for a week? That's the stuff of dreams for a reading teacher! While I perused many books, one experience really floored me.

We'd dragged our laptops, iTouches, Kindles, and iPad to the store planning to take advantage of the free Wi-Fi. At one point, when I was tired of roaming and chatting I decided to see what free reading materials I could pull down onto our iPad. I've loved stories told with pictures since I was a child and soon found myself exploring a site that offers loads of free comics. The comics on this site are specifically fitted to an iPad window and look great.

Zeroed in on one part of a full panel.

Now, if all the website/app did was display hi-resolution images of individual comic pages, I'd still enjoy it but would hardly have felt compelled to share the experience. Where things changed for me was when it was suggested by the app that I double-tap an individual frame on the comic book page. 

Doing this proved eye-opening. 

I sat stunned as the rest of the page disappeared and -like a camera zeroing in on one face in a crowd- the single panel of art and words became the focus. Incredible! 

I can sometimes turn to skimming when I read a lot in one sitting. Comic books are especially easy to do this with. I focus on the words but use the images to skip along at points. This new format of delivery the story stopped all that, instantly. I was memorized and spent extra time and attention on the word flow and artwork. I should probably add that it made me feel like a kid again.

a less dynamic full page of art and story

It's difficult to explain, in print, how dramatic an effect this had on reading the story. The best I can offer as comparison is to think of any news/magazine or documentary show on TV you've watched where still photos are shown very close to the screen and a camera pans slowly to different parts of it as narration unfolds. That was how this went on the iPad each time I read, then tapped, a panel. And, the camera movement wasn't always simply from one panel to the next. Sometimes the top of a large panel was the focus then -tap- the bottom of the same panel was panned to. Or, a small section of a character's face would be the lone focus before panning back to reveal the entire face and body. In one instance, the speed at which the panning happened was accelerated to underscore the moment a punch landed. 

So, for this slightly daft Nutmegger- the Great Pumpkin Storm was one I'll look back at fondly.

If you own an iPad, and are even vaguely interested in experiencing this reading approach for yourself, then head over to ComiXology, download the app, and explore some free comics.

Kindles Can Do

     After a period of considering and testing several other portable reading platforms, I ended up exactly where I had originally planned when applying for a grant to fund eReaders for my young readers. After buying and trying the Nook, the result is we've become a Kindle-toting classroom.
     After the perfunctory introduction to all the little buttons and tasks a Kindle can perform, the students have settled into reading from them as they would any other print -albeit with a few positive wrinkles.

* We all have a voice: Kindles offer a voice-assisted reading program, which when activated  translates displayed text into audio. Several students make regular use of this feature and appear to enjoy it. Personally, I find the computer-assisted reading feature off-putting, but that's me.
* Swiss-knife eReading: Many students have been interacting well with their Kindles by making use of the ever-present dictionary. When they discover a word that confuses them during read, they can move a cursor to a spot just before the word and then glance to the bottom of the viewing window. There they will find a suggested word meaning in a slim pop-up window. This is one of the least intrusive ways I've seen for learning about challenging word and I like it a lot. The Kindle is like a Swiss-knife reading unit in this way because it has all you need, and more, packed into a portable package.

* Chocolate Sampler: The students have explored almost 25 books in only a few classes using their Kindles. The ability to download a sample for almost any new book has been awesome, because while my room is filled with books, which students can easily examine, I couldn't possibly fund bringing in all the latest books for review. The Kindle can and, unlike a laptop, presents all of this in one easy-to-survey glance. Students have poked their minds into many books samples to date such as Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen, Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies by Erin Dionne, and Sharks by Peter Benchley -none of which I have in my room in hard copy. Of these three titles, I've ordered the latter two because interest in them has been significant. Sadly, and maybe only for the moment, Paulsen's Woods Runner is not in demand. His book, apparently, is the butter creme of the bunch for this discerning group of readers.
* Making the Most Cents: Another powerful aspect of having Kindles has been the number of copies I have been able to bring into it with a simple click of a button. When I noticed the book Boost was a hit with students in other classrooms, I made that my first Kindle purchase. It cost 9.99, which seems fair, at first, and then quickly became a steal of a deal when I transferred 5 more copies of the book at no additional cost to four other Kindles. (Most ebooks allow for 5-10 copies to be used at a time from one an account.) So, the real math worked out to less that two bucks a book, which makes the most (sorry) cents to anyone running a classroom and promoting reading. I now have about half my students reading Boost and being in a position to share their reading experience. Thus, for 10 bucks I have 5 happy readers. Excellent stuff!

     It's not all been perfect in this early going. Because I have ebooks spread unequally across several Kindles and far more students than Kindles, I've had to track which person is reading from which Kindle. Then everyone has had to learn the art of recording a location number to find their place for when they return to their book a few days later. Also, while the American and Oxford dictionaries are excellent sources for finding definitions, many continue to be too difficult for the younger audience. I wish there was an intermediate version available for installation. I'd happily pay for those to be on each Kindle. Still, these are minor nuisances when compared to how well they're enjoyed in the classroom.

     Maybe your child has come home asking about one already? I will say that -if you can swing it financially- it worth buying one. And, there's a chance Kindles will drop to 99 dollars by the summer as that seems to be a good price point to sell even more. 

The Kindle is Kewl!!!

Kindle = Kewl

     I made the beginning transition from book toter to Kindle carrier this week. I'll admit that I had a momentary bout of buyer's remorse when I started examining the Nook color, but came to my senses when reminded that my goal is to read from a portable device -not access email and play games in-between the reading. So, what are my early thoughts? The Kindle is (pardon my adolescent-ish behavior) Kewl!

     After the initial hours of playing with every feature I could find on the unit, I eventually settled into reading from it -go figure. The fact is I've been reading a great deal this week because of the Kindle. The special e-ink gives the screen a fake look (as if someone typed on a plastic overlay) but it's perfect for reading. "Page" turning happens quickly, which is good because I'd read  that this was an issue for some of the earlier Kindles. The font size is completely adjustable too, another helpful feature when reading for prolonged periods. Probably the most influential factor to my heavy use of the device has been the variety of material it can hold.

     Next to my bed is a stack of books, somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty. I'm reading from more than half of these at the moment, a habit adopted years ago that, surprisingly, hasn't confused me. (A common reaction when people hear this is, "Oh, I couldn't read more than one book. I'd be too confused." The fact is it's the same as watching 10 TV shows. It's about interest not memory. Trust me, you can do this too.) Now, twenty books makes for a nifty pile and quite the project when I want to quickly switch to something else, or try and take more than three of these with me somewhere. The Kindle solves all of this. My Kindle has over twenty reading items at this moment, and I find myself jumping from one item to the next. While it sounds like inattention at work it's had the net affect of keeping me reading longer.
     Just this morning, I read a bit from the Wall Street Journal, then switched over to a Sherlock Holmes story (free), then back to WSJ, then to a PDF document (which I converted to a book format using Calibre), and then over to a contemporary novel. I don't think I moved physically more than three inches in the process. If I had to round up these materials the-soon-to-be-old-fashioned-way, I would have had to collect my laptop, a newspaper, and two books. I have enough trouble rustling up a spoon for my cereal in the morning. Most likely I'd have just read the newspaper from front to back -even the stuff I could care little about. So, for now, the Kindle has translated to more enjoyable and purposeful reading for me because I can access anything I'm interested in reading anywhere. Yes, this is no different than when we all began converting over to MP3 players and no longer had to worry about shelves of albums to sift through and be in a range of to enjoy.

     Another additional benefit -and this is purely a theory- is that I'm reading faster. I'm not a terribly quick reader in general. I'm probably average. But, with the Kindle screen being smaller than a book page, and the size of fonts able to be increased so that only a few words per line show at a time, the outcome is reading more quickly. The reason is quite literally because less eye movement has been needed. It seems like a small point to make but moving across from left to right to follow strings of words and then zip over to start the next line is an unnecessary task. I've noticed that in recent years, I hardly look at the edges of my reading. I try to shoot down the middle and feel almost a sense of anxiety (or is it merely irritation?) at having to move my eyes side to side. When we read it's natural to try and see things in chunks, anticipating what will show up next. So, a narrower column of words seems to work better for reading and sense-making than having text spread across several inches just outside of our visible range where it becomes necessary to shift and refocus our attention. 

     I'm not completely done with books and I know it won't be long before I'm using a Kindle color (rumor is their Chinese manufactures are playing around with new color screens) but I'm satisfied owning a Kindle. Looking forward to taking is me...everywhere.

Future Telemarketers?

Audio enhancements seem to be a trend of late in schools and the reading field. My classroom is located in the audio enhancement section of the building, and I have witnessed the effectiveness that enhanced audio can bring to a lesson. So, it should come as no surprise that devices like Whisper Phone and Toobaloo are –ehem- making noise in the reading world these days.
                These devices are really low-tech but deliver what they promise. (They’re also wonderfully cheap, and can be cloned using PVC.) Made from simple plastics, each item is used by students when reading aloud. These audio tools help in several ways.

• students are able to sub-vocalize their reading, yet hear it themselves as if they were speaking fairly loudly
• classroom “noise” during activities like rereading a rough draft are nearly eliminated
• student focus is improved as typical background sounds lose out to the reader’s voice
• finally, and best, the chance for student understanding rises significantly as their reading is ported accurately into their ear canals. 

                I had the opportunity to test these tools this week and found myself smiling at how simple and effective they are. The Toobaloo claims to amplify a sub-vocalized voice as much as 10 times. Having no way to measure this, I’ll buy it. The Toobaloo was indeed the more effective of the two tools for enhancing my voice. The drawback is that it has to be held, like one would hold a phone. The Whisper Phone is hands free, which was great when I needed to hold a book open to read. It was, however, not as loud as the Toobaloo. This often led to me reading a little louder than I might have wished. It also seemed to have a seashell effect. It allowed a steady tone similar to when we put a seashell to our ears to occur. It wasn’t terrible, but something I did notice. Still, it’s hard to not want to have the hands-free set for longer reading.       
                I’m going to work on purchasing a few of these in the coming months to pilot them with my students during certain activities. Unable to decide which device is the best, I’m simply going to buy both. So, if you walk by the room and see kids wearing these then the answer to your likely question is “No, I am not training our youth of today to become tomorrow’s telemarketers!”

If you decide to purchase one of these for home use, I would highly recommend that you have your child place the device up to his/her right ear. Sounds entering the right ear canal access the left side of the brain, which is where much of a child’s understanding of language is developed. This does beg a question, for me at least: If a child is using these devices to review the steps of a math problem, should they wear it over the left ear? Anyone?

Hello Parents

     A new school year awaits us, and it promises to be an exciting few weeks for everyone at Gideon Welles School. I'm looking forward to meeting you and your child next week. 

     My colleagues and I have been diligently working to implement many new ideas and books within our curriculum. The Language Arts department is particularly excited about introducing  a slew of contemporary books to your child as part of our theme-based approach to instruction. The books span a range of genres and reading levels, which is critical to providing all our students the opportunity to connect with the written word and engage in the classroom community. It is also a tried and true method for promoting a love of reading.

     What follows is an image that will take you to our books after you've clicked it. Enjoy and hopefully I'll see you next week. 

Hard (Copy) Decision

The question isn’t will I, it’s when will I. When will I switch from purchasing, carrying, and peering into hard copies of the written word and embrace the soothing, high-resolution, electronic delivery of the written word, because the next step in delivering the written word to each of us is in mid-stride.


Kindle is leading the way, followed by eReader, and now the Nook. Each device is portable and capable of delivering a massive number of books, articles, and blogs to your fingertips. Anyone who says this won’t replace books did not pay attention to events in the music world.

The iPod came, it saw, it conquered. Vinyl recordings are a clear marker in my life of how old I am these days, and I don’t sound all that hip and relevant when I mention music CDs either. (Hmmm… add the word hip to the list of you’re-showing-your-age items.)

I do love books. I find it incredibly relaxing to peruse books in a library, store, and even online. I like holding books and being an owner of books. My home is in many ways a small library unto itself because of how much I enjoy books. And yet, this does not mean I won’t eventually change how I receive the written word of others.

Frankly, there’s too much to like about the new age of print to stay away from it much longer. The real difficulty is going to be deciding which portable device I finally purchase. There are pros and cons to each device, which I will not bother with here as there are hundreds of sites that have done this already. Instead I’ll give my reasons to go electronic along with my worries.



The reasons to buy electronic:

It is cheaper. Yes, the machine costs money, but the savings with electronic version of books makes up for it. Hard copies of books cost far more and take longer to come down in price. Electronic books begin cheaper and move down in price quicker than those we purchase from a brick and mortar locale. There is less clutter. Books pile up quickly, and they have an eerily magnetic way about them when it comes to dust. A thousand books on shelves is messy. A thousand books in electronic form is sublime. I will make better decisions. I don’t always leave a store with the books I planned to purchase. Sometimes it’s due to cost and other times it’s spotting something else of interest. By accessing Amazon, for example, directly from Kindle, I can see reviews of books and similar types of books to assist with my decisions. There should be less guess work. I’m also often under a time constraint when I’m at a bookstore and make hasty decisions. I’m hopeful there’ll be better organization. My books are sometimes filled with ear-marked pages, highlights, odd slips of papers, or a notation along the inside covers. All of which seem like good ideas until I need to actually return to this information. Then, I’m left wondering what my grand organizational plan was at the time as I look through shelves of books. An electronic device will force me into one method, which is (I hope) much easier, reliable, and sensible.



The reasons I worry about going electronic:

Foremost in my mind is ownership. When I buy a book I can do with it what I will -not so with an electronic version. I cannot readily hand off the copy to a friend. Some electronic readers will allow you the chance to lend a book for two weeks, like a library, but that’s not good enough. Generally, when I lend a book, I don’t expect it back because I know it’ll be gone for months. I worry about instantaneous collection loss. What happens if my portable device breaks? A broken device means I’ll have nothing to read until it’s replaced or repaired. Amazon claims to backup all your purchases, but I’ve read mixed reviews on this. Example, periodicals are only backed-up for two weeks! Normally, I try to weed out piles of magazines. But, if I can have an electronic copy, I would not have to decide what to throw away. I like seeing books. Books packed into shelves simply sings to me. They don’t even have to be my books or books I’ve read.

Most likely, I'll find myself holding onto both in the end. I'm looking forward to the new experience.

"I'm your Density! ummm...I'm your Destiny!"

Sorry, but I simply could not refrain from pulling out that old line from the movie Back to the Future. What I have to write about however has nothing to do with density and everything to do with our new library website, Destiny Quest.

If you've not heard the word about this nifty website from your child, then make a point to investigate it for yourself. Destiny Quest (see links below or head to the Glastonbury Portal) allows anyone to check on the availability of books in the Glastonbury Public school libraries. The search feature works as you'd expect. One can search by title, author name, key words, and so forth. Once a book is located it can be reserved for pick-up. This is about as convenient as it's going to get...well until copies can be downloaded to a portable device -ala Kindle- with some form of student privileges.

There's more than convenience at work with the new online system. Students can see what the Top 10 most popular books are among students. Each book can be easily reference for genre, page total, reading level (very helpful), and year of publication. It serves as a stripped down Amazon also, in that it will make similar book-type/genre recommendations based on the books being reviewed and/or reserved. There's a nice drag-and-drop feature too. Again, making the process of picking, reserving, and getting to a good read so simple. The newest arrivals are listed and special resource lists of books, tailored to the school's curriculum, can be established. I was also recently informed that books on tape (which can be worn like iPods basically) are searchable if you type the key word: playaway.

So what does this all mean? For starters, finding subject and age appropriate books has become much easier. The site is self-contained. If you worry that your child might begin on one site and then CLICK-CLICK-CLICK-CLICK end up somewhere less-than-desired, you can reserves those worries. Also, there should be far fewer excuses regarding having trouble locating books to read.

I reserved and picked-up my first book, Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, last week. My second selection, An American Plague, was not in, but I'm next in line to nab it. Never had to leave my seat, bother the friendly staff, or do what most men tend to do -skip looking up the book number and instead begin wandering up and down the aisles with the firm belief the book will magically appear for me. Half an hour latter I'm usually giving an aw-shucks look to one of the librarians while meekly asking for help. Sometimes, I switch the routine up and pretend to have been inspecting all the books like I'm some form of quality control guy. They don't buy that one often.

If you have the opportunity, thank those librarians, and super-supporting paraprofessionals, in each of the Glastonbury schools who have worked incredibly hard to scan all the books in their collective libraries to make the site as accurate and viable as possible.

These are two links to copy, cut, and paste. The former goes directly to the multiple search page within Destiny Quest, and the latter points you to the Destiny Quest front page, which is nice to look at and user-friendly.

http://gpslibrary.glastonburyus.org/cataloging/servlet/presentadvancedsearchredirectorform.do?l2m=Library%20Search&tm=Catalog&l2m=Library+Search

http://gpslibrary.glastonburyus.org/vopac/servlet/presentsearchform.do?site=102

Thesaurus Rex!: The Thesaurus, still King and far from Extinct.

     Remeber the old days, when finding just the right word to describe a feeling required finding a dusty tome with the word THESAURUS emblazoned across it? A bit of a nuisance wasn't it? At least, that's how I recall it being for me quite often.

     Leaps in technology no longer make the time component an issue. One need only type thesaurus.com into a laptop or phone and the entire catalogue of English verbiage is at one's fingertips. It's truly amazing. And yet, somehow, it remains a challenge for teachers to have students access and use these wonderful tools. I, therefore, made it a point to directly instruct my reading students in the use of the thesaurus, both online and via a word processing program.

     I started by asking the students to list three words to describe themselves in a span of one minute. The word choices were fairly typical: nice, fun, happy, funny, kind, helpful, smart, etc. These are standard word choices at almost any age and I do not fault them in the least for falling back on them given the minute they had to create a list. We are creatures of habit and fall back on what we hear and use the most in daily communications. Again, completely expected and normal. So...

The students got a quick lesson on using Thesaurus.com and the thesaurus readily available in Word to make improvements to their orginal choices: kind became compassionate, happy became cheerful, funny became hilarious, and smart became clever. All improvements over the original choices and all completed in mere seconds.

     There were some other useful benefits to pursuing this activity too. The students had an opportunity to discuss multiple word meanings. Smart can refer to the intelligence of a person and also his manner of dress. We took time to talk about the parts of speech and how words used to describe ourselves are adjectives. This helped narrow down selections when online.

I do believe the students were quite pleased with their new word choices at the end of the acitvity, and they felt a little more empowered. It didn't hurt either that when using the thesaurus within Word it required a few simple clicks of the mouse to change a word. I gave the following sample sentences as an example: It was a bad day because of the rain. The weather put me in a bad mood. So, I did badly on my tests. Of course the students laughed recognizing both a lame set of sentences and my weak reliance on the word bad. But, in less than fifteen seconds I turned three lame sentences into three servicable sentences. It was a terrible day because of the rain. The weather put me in an awful mood. So, I did poorly on my tests.

     Shakespeare would hardly be envious of the changes, but that doesn't mean we didn't improve our word choices. The sentences convey much more now. Apparently the weather affects some of us quite dramatically. Long live Thesaurus Rex!

Shelfari

Not sure I can claim to have stumbled upon Shefari as it is a wholly owned company of Amazon.com. Still, it felt like I found it by accident. Either way, I like the site quite a bit.

Put simply, Shelfari let's its members show the covers of the books they've read, are reading, and plan to read. Of course, as will all dot.com companies there's more to it than that.

Here's what Shelfari lists as its member uses:

• Build virtual bookshelves to express themselves to their friends and to the world
• Discover books that are popular in their trusted circles of friends
• Influence peers by rating and discussing books online
• Discover and learn from people with similar reading tastes
• Participate in online book groups to further explore literature and share ideas
• Interact with and learn from authors

This is good stuff and it's a very nice way to build a sense of pride and accomplishment in reader's of any age. It does also lend itself well to finding new books to read. I've found most reviews to be fairly delivered. And, because it is a subsidiary of Amazon, there's also the option to purchase a discovered book online.

Shelfari will keep your identity private from others, unless you note otherwise. You can limit who sees your actual name to friends you invite.

Multitasking is an insidious word. It's really part of an alien conspiricy.

The term multi-tasking is frequently bandied about in education. Most educators use the term in place of the more accurate phrase I-have-tons-to-handle-so-please-don't-add-more-to-my-plate; or, something to that effect. Adults can say they're multi-tasking and in large part be faithful to that statement because we have a great deal of experience in our respective areas of instruction and have years of experience juggling varied tasks. It also helps that our brains are, ehem, up to the task. (Then again, the task of speaking on a phone and driving a car at the same time is an example of multitasking that we're coming to understand is far from easy or safe.)

So, why is multitasking insidious? It's because the concept of multitasking has crept unchecked into the vocabualry of adolescents. Adolescents are not nearly as capable of stating they are multitasking and living up to it. How can this be? We see their desktops connected with all sorts of wonderful gadgets like phones, MP3 players, laptops, DVDs, and portable storage devices. Many children can make these things sing with one another in a manner that implies mastery of all things electronic. Don't be fooled. Yes, they can impress, but they cannot mulitask. At least, they cannot multitask well.

I found this statement in an article at LiveScience.com: "The part of the brain responsible for multitasking continues to develop until late adolescence, with cells making connections even after some children are old enough to drive." The article goes on to support the idea that young minds do not have the ability to prioritize and organize varied tasks as an adult would. Multitasking is beyond students in their early teen and even late teen years.

I'm sure most parents with teenagers knew this already on some level. Teenagers are wacky for lack of a better word. It's as if your kids were replaced with spot-on clones from some alien world with the grand plan of driving you nuts. I jest, but their version of an organized binder, closet, or room is far different from ours; and they honestly believe they're organized. One day I'm going to polygraph one of my boys just to prove it. 

So, next time you pop into Johnny's room and see the TV on, the iPod in one ear, and the twelve windows open on the laptop, only one of which appears to be homework, don't believe it when Johnny says, "It's okay mom. I'm multitasking." Johnny isn't multi-tasking, he's doing multiple things poorly. It's all part of the nefarious plan the aliens, who have temporairly replaced your little cherub with a food stuffing, late sleeping, know-it-all, are trying to maintain right under your nose using the guise of "multitasking".

Know that your teen has limitations when it comes to the thinking demands of home and school; and that placing one thing at a time before them is the best way to ensure success.

If you'd like to read the orginal article on the topic, which does a far better job of explaining why teens don't multitaks well, select the link which follows: http://www.livescience.com/health/050517_teen_thought.html

How do you read from a computer screen?

We all know the power of the Internet. We maintain communication with friends, make plans, play games, conduct financial activities, explore new things, and read.

It's the last item I've listed that every so often commands my attention, because I'm left to wonder if the reading I do from the computer screen helps or hurts me. And, by extension, I wonder how it impacts kids who spending time "reading" before the warming luminescence of a computer screen.

Here's what I know for sure. When I read from a computer screen, it's often a painful process. I dislike the experience. To begin, I'm usually in a chair, which is not my ideal reading position. The screen is no friend either. The light from most screens is harsh and the contrast between text and background is too extreme for eyes. Then there's the web "page" which is frequently saturated with advertisements or pop-ups designed to move me away from concentrated reading. Add in the mouse pointer, which I frequently need to move away from the spot I'm trying to read every twenty seconds; and also the temptation of embedded hyperlinks and I begin to opt for quicker avenues through any text of length.

Take a look at the list that follows and consider how many of these events are generally practiced by you or come to confound you:

>> skim far more than read word-for-word what's on the screen <<
>> drift from the page, with every intention of returning, as you click multiple hyperlinks <<
>> put your finger to the screen to help follow the text <<
>> use the mouse to highlight what you've covered as you read <<
>> click over to the print version of the article to avoid as many distractors as possible <<
>> bookmark the page again with the full intention of reading it fully at a later point <<
>> rarely reread because it feels like losing time more than improving understanding <<
>> print a hard copy because that's the best way to ensure you're reading properly <<

When I look at the list I know I'm guilty of poor reading. Reading is defined as a complex activity involving my knowledge, the text before me, and the author. Skimming, failing to reread, web page hopping, and good intentions to read later are all the proof I need in the Court of Me that I'm not doing this complex activity justice. So....

If I'm guilty of these poor screen reading behaviors what's happening with kids? Well, they certainly believe they're reading online, they insist as much. It only takes a few questions to know otherwise because they're dealing with all of the problems/adaptations noted above plus instant messages, music streams, and far less experience with book reading than you or I. I do not fault the kids of course for what I cannot avoid, but poor screen reading behaviors undermine reading proper. Reading is hard and we do know (despite the articles and claims to the contrary) that we comprehend best when not multitasking or confronted with distractions.

Books still have a place in our classes and homes if for no other reason than they continue to be the best vehicle for delivery of substantial information and ideas. Until technology can make information from the Internet present itself as a book, it's simply a very poor man's version of the real thing. A book does only one task and it does it well. We need to make sure our children learn this too.

It is a smart -if expensive- pen

Before anyone jumps to any conclusions here the answer is “no”. No, I am not a salesman for the company Livescribe and its clever writing utensil the Pulse Smartpen. I think this will become clearer as I present the pros and cons to this item.

The Pulse Smartpen is –well- a pen. This pen, however, can record a teacher’s lecture as the individual using it records notes. It’s a lot like having a tape recorder running during a class lecture as you are taking notes. The advantage is that you can later tap the pen on specific words or bullets you’ve written and the recorded lecture will pick up at that exact spot. This is certainly a big step over forwarding and rewinding to locate information on a tape or digital recording. Another nice feature is how the recorded notes and audio from the pen can be downloaded directly to a computer hard drive. This can make for some very comprehensive coalition of data, as simply clicking on a key word can call up every time that audio was recorded. That’s impressive.

There are several drawbacks that came to mind immediately. First, the pen, its accompanying software, and its non-reusable writing pads can run quite a tab. The site shows some packages running around 250 dollars. That’s prohibitive for many. Second, the item is clever, but also in many ways simply a glorified tape machine. Hey, I’ll be the first to admit that as true as this comment may be it’s still a cool gadget I’d like to own. The promise for me with such a tool is that it’s a clear precursor to things to come. Third, the pen is not ideal for all students. It does seem best fitted to the college student where is can be used as a tool and not a gadget as so many younger students might make use of it. Also, younger students are prone to recording everything, which is simply too much information to revisit as an audio later.

I noted that I could see this technology eventually growing cheap enough to become commonly used. This is one of those blessings and curses for me. It’d be nice to see the student that is slower when recording notes having the means to follow up later. It would also be satisfying to know that student’s will be receiving the definitions, examples, and information I, as a teacher, intended to impart. The curse is born of that very same blessing though. I’m not sure I want every word I say recorded. Would you? Bottom line: The site is worth visiting though if only to have a peek at the near future.

http://www.livescribe.com/

November 4, 2008

Well, it’s Election Day and about the farthest notion from my mind is who will be our next president. I’m busy at the moment observing my colleagues during a half-day workshop. We are learning about a new web portal that our school system has adopted, but unlike most forays into new technology this process is not typical.

Typically, new technology is met with some nervousness, questions like what’s wrong with the old program, who is going to train us, and so forth. There is, inevitably, a healthy dash of confusion as we all wrangle with the ins and outs of a new program over a span of a few weeks or months. We’ve adopted in recent years new programs to assist with tracking grades, record keeping, and having a personal website. Some teachers are more adept than others with these technologies, but in each case the hurdle is not the program we need to learn but rather our lack of experience with them –their newness.

What’s atypical about today’s process is that the latest technology -and not its novelty- is the hurdle. As I scan the room, my colleagues’ frustrations are palpable as anguished sighing grows in volume, requests for personal attention climb and huffing has replaced murmured negative comments. It doesn’t help that the computers are also “slow today” making progress too deliberate.

To make the situation laughable, the new web portal we’re working with is designed for businesses, not educators. The phrase sticking a square peg into a round hole fits perfectly here (ba-da-boom!). This one-stop, fits-all program is wonderful I presume if you are running a big business with a department dedicated to using it. I again presume that most employees in such a company are not actually expected to establish their sites but rather are given a functioning site which they can ask someone in the technology department to modify to suit. We cannot expect that level of support here as good as our technology people may be. But hey, we’re educators surely we can figure this stuff out?

10 minutes later and another quick scan of the workshop suggests otherwise:
Is my computer the only one going slowly?

Wait, why isn’t this working now?

I need help!

OK, I did it. It works! Just don’t ask me how I did it.

Ugh!
(You get the idea.)

I’m no less guilty and I consider myself above average with the tech stuff. Still, today is my third workshop with the web portal and it’s not getting much better for me. I wanted to use my part of the portal to establish a web forum for parents and colleagues and a spot to read my blog. The former was a success, though I needed a tech support person to make it function properly. The later looked good until I realized it wasn't functioning properly and was quite poor when compared to many of the free blog spots on the Internet. This is why I’m posting this blog, not through our new web portal, but through other means.

This is the weakness in education at times. We are not a business and it is not easy finding programs that are a genuine fit, but it doesn’t stop such programs from being adopted and implemented. The school year is amazingly busy and reviewing giant web applications is therefore difficult.

Just the same as I listen to three of my colleagues complain (quite loudly) what a waste of time this was I can't help but think: If only we, the teachers using the technology, had been included in the review process we might have used an appropriate program to learn something new today. It will come together in the end if for no other reason than it has to.

October 1, 2008

Welcome to my first professional blog. Before you yawn loud enough to rattle a molar lose, you should be aware that the meaning of "professional" will be tested at times. I want this blog to be true to its original purpose: more a flow of comments and thoughts than a formal piece of writing. Topics will vary and may even -EEP- digress completely from reading or education. So, without wasting another keystroke, I begin...

We are approaching a time when many technologies are mixing together at an exponential rate creating events people a 100 years ago would have called magic for lack of a better explanation. Don't believe me? Can you recall when the original version of Star Trek came to viewers across the nation and people scoffed at the small units they used for communication? It's no laughing matter these days as those communicators are not only in daily use but also frighteningly smaller and more capable.

Now, let's take a common piece of school technology, one which costs quite the pretty dime mind you -the Smartboard. Think of how you oohed and ahhed when you saw it for the first time. It was quite cool and is still impressive. That experience came to me 5 years ago. Keep that number in your noggin. Here were are, the calendar reads, 2008 and anyone with an LCD projector, a Wii-mote, and an infrared pen can make a working Smartboard. Not possible right? Let, me turn you into a YouTuber (another amazing technological happening mind you) to show you how it works. Follow this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s5EvhHy7eQ

(If this link doesn't work then follow this one:
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/04/11/ted-talks-johnny-lee.html)

Did some more oohs and ahhs escape your lips? I know they did from mine. This is the tip of what you, I and your children will see and use within the next twenty years. If you enjoy reading about the future, technology, and its disruptive nature check out anything written by Ray Kurzweil, in particular his latest book The Singularity is Near. Be warned. His material is very dense at times (yeah, I skimmed parts) but well worth the comprehension battle.

Mr. Lagana

The guy who wishes he were half as smart as the technologists he looks up to. Then again, given my propensity for sophomoric activities, maybe it's better I'm not so clever after all.