Starting around the beginning of the 17th century, scions of wealthy families began making the ‘Grand Tour’, a sort of finishing school for the elite. These young men explored Roman ruins, attended art exhibitions, and immersed themselves in French and Italian culture. When they returned home their impact on artistic taste and aesthetics was profound. With greater infrastructure, like railways, the middle class could sometimes enjoy this European tradition as well, but the poor were not afforded this luxury…until now. [1] Technology has brought the tour to the people. Major museums around the world have been meticulously scanning and photographing their entire collections and making them available to the public. This includes the massive collection of art objects that are not on display, which means that your digital tour can be more extensive than a physical visit. Ancient tomes are being scanned in their entirety for free viewing. Collections housed in areas of political or social upheaval are still available despite travels bans. Curators, historians, connoisseurs (people who attribute works to an artist), and conservationists who work directly with the objects post their research along with the images. While this availability and access has broad implications for the art world, the technology also means that students and educators outside the arts can use these resources across the curriculum. History, literature, chemistry, biology, anatomy, sociology, archeology, and engineering are large components in art-making and the study of art objects makes physical what is otherwise understood as abstract theory. Most museums categorize their collection by region and chronology so searching for objects is easy. There are even virtual tours that go through the galleries as if you were actually there. With world culture and tradition at our fingertips, how will our own change? Further Readings & Resources
[1] Gross, Matt. "What is the Grand Tour?" The New York Times. May 14, 2008. Accessed February 22, 2017. https://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/what-is-the-grand-tour/?_r=0. Today's post comes to us from the wonderful Crystal Helt. Crystal is an art and art history teacher at Pike High School. A graduate of Ball State University and Azusa Pacific University with degrees in Art Education specializing in Drawing and Modern Art History and Criticism, she can be found on twitter @heltarthistory, at a local art museum, or with her nose in an art history book.
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“What do you do?” “I’m a high school math teacher!” “Oh…I was never good at math. I never use any of the things I learned in real life anyway.” This short dialogue has been had too many times to count. I have titled this blog post “For the Love of Mathematics” because I believe utilizing technology in purposeful ways will empower students to explore the mathematics around them and lead to deeper understanding of mathematical concepts and aid students in building connections between different fields of mathematics (algebra and geometry, for example). Take a moment and think back to any of the math classes you completed. Close your eyes. Visualize the classroom set up. Where was your teacher most typically stationed? What were the normal operating procedures of the class? What did a typical day entail? While our experiences may not be identical, I have to believe we experienced some of the same routines. I can see the rows of desks in every classroom. I can see my teacher at the front of the room, chalk or dry erase marker in hand, recording one example after another with very little dialogue with his students. Now, don’t get me wrong, this system worked for me. I was able to be “trained” to learn in such an environment. In fact, two of these educators impacted my decision to teach math. However, I do not believe that I was taught in the most effective, or most rigorous environment. My experiences as a learner have influenced my goals as an educator. While direct instruction may still be part of my lessons, students must be talking about the mathematics using the correct vocabulary. They are praised for stopping me mid-sentence to ask, “Why?” or “Why does it work that way? Prove it to me.” Additionally, students are encouraged to form their own hypotheses after observing patterns or common results. Enter technology. The strategies I have used to empower students to investigate math have been made more effective by websites and interactive whiteboard apps, such as Desmos and Educreations, as well as my Twitter page and Canvas course. Learning has been extended beyond the four walls of my classroom and is accessible to students anywhere they have WiFi. This semester, my Canvas class has been transformed from a “file dumping” ground to a structured space for students to take part in investigations, complete formative assessments (through quizzes and various uses of Google Docs), and access course resources. One of my favorite changes to my Canvas class has been the use and organization of my course modules. Each module corresponds to one unit of study and contains multiple sections (typically content pages), one for each major objective taught. Then, various engagements are provided for students. For instance, students may access: an outside URL, such as a Desmos graphing investigation; a content page that reinforces the main points of the lesson; or videos providing additional examples for students to reference. My instructional videos are created using the Educreations app, and these videos are also posted on my Twitter page. Above Left: The new structure of my modules with text headers and indentation used to make navigation more simple. Above Right: Sample Desmos graphing investigation. This investigation will be used as an introduction to our next unit of study. Below Left: Screenshot of an Algebra 1 content page. Graphic created on Canva – outlines the main ideas presented in our introductory lesson. Below Right: Screenshot of an Algebra 2 content page with additional resources for students, such as instructional videos and unit documents. The technology allows the learning process to be scaffolded in such a way that students can progress at a more individualized pace, and it also provides students with access to a variety of resources. Today’s blog post comes from Ms. Lauren Hannah. Lauren is in her third year teaching at Pike High School. She is a math enthusiast and is also a lover of singing, baking, cake decorating, and the Butler Bulldogs. Follow her on Twitter @mathteachZ201. In this hypersensitive political time immigration is a word you can easily hashtag. While we’re debating who comes first and how to secure the border, our young student immigrants are being left out of the conversation. Let’s forget about the actual wall that’s bringing such metaphorical and literal division across the U.S. and talk about the walls surrounding our immigrant students in the classroom. No matter which side you’re on, you want our nation’s future to be educated and there are ways we can give tools to our students, ways as educators to inject accessibility into the curriculum for those who are still learning English. What’s the secret? Wait for it….drum roll, please…technology. Yes, technology can be the great equalizer. When an English Learner sits in your classroom, they’re only catching about half of what you’re saying. We all know that teachers LOVE to talk but that isn’t ideal for an immigrant student who isn’t fluent in the language. Speaking the native languages of all the students you have isn’t possible either, so we need technology to bridge the gap. Allow English learners to use their smart phone for google translate and look up slang phrases used in the classroom. Youtube can show them visual video examples and the internet will provide searched images of unknown topics. Newcomers that speak little to no English will mainly rely on technology to translate, while English learners who have spent many years here will utilize summary websites like Sparknotes.com for simplified readings, videos and explanations of curriculum. Remember that immigrant students use the internet for most of their questions, just like most American English speakers so educators need to utilize it the same way. We teachers love to use our expensive vocabulary, but that’s simply another brick in the wall. Throw an English Learner a rope by allowing them to use their smartphone in class. Put your notes and instructions in simplified English on a power point and post it on a school-wide site like Canvas for students to access later. You can go the extra mile and put up a ladder for immigrant students with technology in these small ways. Technology can be the bridge we need to educate our immigrant and English learning population. Today's thoughts come to us from Mr. Lisa Geimer. Lisa has been an English as a New Language teacher for 16 years, spanning all grades K-12. Her passion for English Learners comes from her upbringing as a child of a Cuban immigrant. She strives to bridge the gap of statistical success and wants to inspire immigrants to reach their goals in the first generation. Teacher: My students are doing a research paper and need to know everything about finding reliable, accurate, high-quality web resources and books. Librarian: Great! Would you like me to come in and work with them during their project? Teacher: Yes, how about 15 minutes next Tuesday. There’s a theory called the Pareto Principle that gives us the “80/20” rule. Most teachers may have heard it in the context of 80% of the problems are caused by 20% of the students or 80% of the decisions are based on 20% of the opinions. It is the idea that 20% of any set of things are the most valuable and 80% are less important or trivial. In an online interview, Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-hour Work Week, suggests that to master time management, find a way that 20% of your actions will produce 80% of what you want. As a school librarian, I like to build my lessons and trainings using this “20/80” rule. What is 20% of a skill, concept, or idea that will get you to 80% of the understanding? Or what can I give you in 20% of the time that will help you with 80% of the project. As we build and curate content for online courses, it is important to keep the 20/80 rule in mind. The beauty and the curse of blended learning is that we cannot do the things we’ve always done in the way we’ve always done it. We can no longer spend 45 minutes lecturing upon a topic with the hopes to drop 100% of a concept into the ears and minds of our attentive and rapt students. Truly, we may never have been able to do that, but it didn’t stop some from trying. A blended learning environment requires that we boil a concept or topic down to the meaty center, the 20%, that will capture the interest, spark the fire, and lead the way for our learners to apply, discover, and explore. Try this: find a 8-10 minute YouTube video on a concept you currently teach. As you watch it, look for the 1-2 minute segment that is the main nugget of information that your students would need to know to grasp the big idea. Now think about it, if all you had them watch was 2 minutes and then give them an activity or assignment apply that big idea in a creative or constructive way, would they build the other 80 of their understanding? Can you take apart the topic like lego blocks and find the 20% that contains the big take-away skill your students need to carry with them? That’s the money-maker - the rest may just be a brain-fader. In the example where the teacher wants her students “to know everything about finding reliable, accurate, high-quality web resources and books” in 15 minutes, here’s the 20% I can deliver in that time - the location of the databases and how to develop a list of key search terms. 80% of high quality research can be boiled down to starting in a place of quality and having enough search terms to find a variety of items. If that’s all they take away from their time in my library, I’m 100% thrilled. Today's post comes to us from Ms. Lena Darnay. Lena is a High School IB Librarian, Career Academy Coordinator at Pike High School. She is an EdTech Connoisseur, CanvasLMS Learner, IB Mom, and Darn Good Reader. Follow her on Twitter @DarnGoodReads Upon learning of the digital learning cadre, I thought that I might get an opportunity to learn more about Canvas and how to use it to support the way I teach. As we have developed a shared vision of what tech integration looks like, I have come to change my thought process a bit. So, a bit of time travel…Go back many years to see how the culinary instruction looks, and you would see the Chef as the grand repository of all knowledge culinary, and he would share out that knowledge as he saw fit. A curious apprentice who played with a recipe would more likely experience the business end of a wooden spoon than any encouragement to question and explore. Move up to the present, and many schools are still similar – with less yelling and bludgeoning. When students question why something is done, many are told that, “That is the way it is done!” When we read about effective teaching styles, “stand and deliver” and “teacher-centered” are no longer on the top of the list of methods…in fact they are very nearly on the bottom of the heap. Why do Chefs continue to teach this way? “That is the way it is done!” might be the answer. I am in the infancy of envisioning a new method that moves the Chef from his/her pedestal to the sidelines – cheering their students and coaching them through a process of self-discovery and learning. Are there things on which we will need to be the authority? Absolutely. I would like to think, though, that if we yield the soapbox to our students and start to guide them into areas that interest them within our subject matter, that their curiosity will bloom anew, and we will become less “boring.” So here is my vision: restructure content delivery in the Culinary arts to be very student-driven and independent using Canvas as a skeleton around which we can assemble our information and to incorporate more authentic assessments using hands on techniques and technology add-ins. I propose to do this by creating a course structure that groups all of the knowledge and skills into functional areas, and then presents them to the students in a logical progression of challenge. As I try to mold my ideas into a workable prototype, I am amazed at how versatile some of our resources are, such as envisioning a quiz/survey as a way to get kids to visit a few websites and complete tasks (think the ancient web quest) to thinking about how to get group discussions online to be productive learning tools. Think of the power of a student leaving a class knowing how to use social media for something professional! So far, my challenge has been similar to all of us – time. It takes time to build original content…or money to buy a resource that someone else has already made. I am learning the tech as I go, and doing a pretty good job so far. I plan to try to launch a discussion based activity this spring to try out the idea. Hopefully, I will have some success and learn something to change for next time! Today's post comes from Mr. Nick Carther. Nick teaches culinary arts and oversees the Pike Cafe at Pike High School.
In a discipline such as Family and Consumer Sciences where every concept is connected to real life and the majority of lessons can be hands-on, it’s hard to know where to incorporate digital learning. Yet, in this discipline it is highly important because students are going to leave their devices out of budgeting, recipe finding, child care, or fashion design. Their devices will actually be the most vital tool they have in those actions! So the teaching of FACS must find ways to incorporate the tools our students will really use in the adult world. When thinking of Personal Financial Responsibility, there are a great number of tools that can be incorporated and used. They can be as simple as using the H&R Block Dollars and Sense teen learning module to evaluate paychecks, learn about budgeting, and learn how to save early. Incorporation can also be as intensive as using the Banzai financial literacy modules. These modules run students through many real life scenarios to teach about insurance, stocks, savings, and what happens when life happens. Similarly, Child Development and Advanced Child Development can discover many nuances about growing children and the development they go through. Starting in the unit covering pregnancy and bodily changes, students can work with apps like What To Expect: Daily Tracker to see what help these apps can offer women in the various stages. There are many apps that can cover the development of children as well, such as looking at intellectual development boosters like Starfall (which teaches phonics and math to preschoolers) and Fun Brain Jr. (which can help with motor development and reading). Finally, in the intensively hands-on course like Fashion and Textiles or Nutrition and Wellness, there are a plethora of apps that can be utilized and videos that can help to understand concepts. Budding fashion designers can use Flat Design to create unique outfits, and in turn they can find ways to create patterns to make those outfits in lab! With the Nutrition Classes, it is easy and simple to turn a smartphone into a wellness tool using apps like Supertracker to watch calories, vitamins, exercise, and more. There are even apps that will tell you how many calories, nutrients, fats, and sugars are in the lab food simply by inputting the ingredients! In a digital world, it may seem like the simple skills are getting overlooked. However, in the classes of Family and Consumer Sciences students can learn how to gain those simple skills using the digital tools already in their hands! Shannon Taylor is a first year Family and Consumer Sciences teacher at Pike High School. She grew up in the southwest in Los Alamos, NM (home of the atomic bomb and three national science laboratories). For most of her life, she strived to become an entrepreneur and restaurant owner. After spending 20 years in the restaurant business and not quite finding what she wanted, Shannon decided to pursue teaching. A long road that travelled through IUPUI and Purdue eventually ended last May when she graduated with distinction and joined the Pike family. Shannon is married and has three fur-children, including a new 5-month-old addition named Logan. Her family lives here in Indianapolis near the Speedway and the whole family are Indy Car fans. Her hobbies include Marvel comics (movies and books), camping and hiking, 90’s TV shows, and fun games like Magic the Gathering and Pokemon Go!. Anyone in the education field knows that there are two major pushes right now in the classroom: more STEM integration and more literacy standard achievement. As an engineering teacher, STEM application comes quite easily, but I’ve always struggled to identify an authentic literacy component in my classroom, other than in critical reading of story problems. And, coupled with the fact that many students do not like to read, it has been difficult to engage students in literacy activities that they found interesting. Just about when I’d given up on finding something exciting to use, I went to the movie theater and saw a newly released film: The Martian. After discovering there was a book that preceded the film, I knew that I needed to make it a part of my class experience. My engineers need to see how effective problem solvers think, and this book provides that in a big way. It also opens the door to science fiction, and I hope this experience opens their eyes to reading. I teach Principles of Engineering, a Project Lead the Way course. It is a mechanical engineering class focused on a mathematical and conceptual understanding of the way the world works, as well as how to solve problems, effectively work in groups, and how to use the design process to work effectively. Over the years of teaching the course, I have noticed that, in writing their reflections, my students struggle to write their thoughts professionally. I have also noticed a deficiency in critical reading of problem solving text. I knew I needed to find a way to support them, so I started reflecting on my own past as a student. In high school, I was literally the worst student: I was the kind of kid who spent most of their time finding new ways to avoid reading assignments. I could not motivate myself to become immersed in literature, and, instead, read book summaries online or simply listened to discussions enough to get a grasp of the text. In hindsight, this was a poor decision and it affected me as a reader (and still does). Here’s the thing I didn’t anticipate: I see these very decisions in my students work. They see reading as a time suck, and would prefer not to do it. In a survey I conducted, most of my students indicated that they do not read for pleasure, and many indicated that they do not read class assigned books at all. That’s where The Martian comes in: the book tells the story of a stranded Mark Watney on the surface of Mars. He must use his ingenuity and engineering knowledge to use a limited supply of equipment to survive alone for a significant amount of time. As the story progresses, Watney must continuously come up with new survival methods and craft solutions to problems that pop up at the worst times. After seeing the movie, I immediately bought the book and read through it in less than three days. I knew that if I, a confessed no-reader, could get drawn into Watney’s experiences, my students might also. Last year’s cohort of engineers read The Martian together for the first time. We split the book into reading assignments and the students completed reading responses and comprehension checks on a regular basis. Although implementation was a little rough around the edges, I began to see growth in their comprehension as we moved through the book. Students who struggled with reading comprehension found that they could listen to the audiobook while they read along. Some students found they needed to revisit prior portions of the book to understand context, and did this without being assigned. I also recognized a growth in critical thinking and creativity in their later class projects, and I credit our reading for this. This year, I intend to implement new and creative responses to the text to allow students to be more creative with their engagement with the book and each other. Principles of Engineering is a full curriculum, and I strongly hesitated to add another element into the mix. That said, The Martian unit is quickly becoming a favorite component to the class. So, here’s the million dollar question: how can you integrate more literacy in your class? You don’t need to read an amazing book with your class to do this: find authentic opportunities to engage your students in text that is related to your content and let them explore it. Growth happens when students think a topic is relevant to them; it is our responsibility as educators to find ways to hook them. Today's blog post comes to us from Mr. Isaac Adams. Mr. Adams is a Science and Engineering teacher at Pike High School. He is in his fourth year as an educator and strives to find new and exciting ways to make learning relevant and engaging to his students. Remember the smell of fresh ditto machine ink after running off an assignment? Or what it was like to walk around with what seemed to be a permanent stain of overhead pen projector ink on your hand? And what kind of a teacher could afford a fancy Palm Pilot? Even though these devices have all but gone the way of the dinosaur in the 21st century classroom, at one point in time each of these teaching tools had been at the cutting edge of educational technology. Now more than ever, educators are highly dependent on the technological tools their students use in their everyday lives in order to help them learn. We can use personal computing devices and the Internet to create a paperless classroom. Those same devices can help us keep track of our busy schedules as well as remind students about their academic responsibilities. An LCD projector and YouTube can take your class on a virtual field trip around the globe. While some educators enjoy the challenge of keeping up with the latest tools that our digital native students seem to use without a second thought, others long for the “old days” of computerless classrooms. I recently polled several well-known technophobe teachers at my school to find out why they don’t like to use digital tools in their practice, and the answers I received fell in line with what many other teachers who disliked using technology in school. To some, adding technology is a bother and chore; why should they add more work to their already busy schedules? Others are not comfortable using technology overall; they are afraid they are “too old” to use digital tools. While I received a few other responses, these were the replies that came up most often. How can we assist our technophobe colleagues become more open to trying out digital tools in the classroom? One piece of advice is to remind them that what was once a seemingly indispensable teaching tool such as an overhead projector was once a new technology piece in educational practice, and there were educators just like them who were reluctant to use it. Additionally, familiarity breeds comfort; the more technology is used in practice, the less of a chore it becomes. Most importantly, teachers who routinely use digital tools must share why they find it relevant to integrate technology into their practice. They need to reassure educators who are reluctant to using digital tools that even though some of their lessons might fail, there are tech-savvy teachers who are available to help them retool their lessons so they can be a classroom success. Educators who are proficient in using technology in their lessons need to step up as leaders and offer assistance to those who are not as inclined to use digital tools. By helping others use digital tools, they can help create a more enjoyable, positive classroom environment for both teachers and students. Today's post comes to us from the wonderful Amy Scammerhorn. MS. Scamerhorn is a Spanish teacher at Pike High School. She received a Master’s Degree in Secondary Education with a Focus on Technology from IUPUI. In her time away from the classroom, Amy enjoys cooking, reading, and spending time with family and friends. |
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