RSS Feeds for Collaboration

In an effort to stay organized with education and technology, I have discovered an RSS Reader (Real Simple Syndication) that helps to keep me current on the latest news coming from my favorite blogs. This is an important aspect of an RSS feed because the RSS Reader is only going to show the updated blogs that I have chosen to put there. I have to continually go through the reader and determine if the blogs are useful to me or if they need to be deleted from my stream, and I choose only blogs that will benefit me in my career or in areas of interest.

The RSS Reader tool that I am using is Digg.com, and it is a free tool that anyone can sign up for and use as part of their personal or professional life. I have subscribed to multiple educational blogs that I have found useful in working with technology in the classroom. In this way, I can stay updated on all the latest technologies for education and how to implement them effectively in the classroom. The reader is updated as the blogs are updated, so I get real-time information that I can use instantly. 

Digg.com has another important feature. You can "like" or in Digg.com's case "digg" a particular blog post that then goes into your "Diggs" folder and creates a separate Digg RSS feed in and of itself. This Digg RSS feed has favorite blog posts that you can navigate to easily and even share the URL with other teachers or collaborators so that they can also benefit from articles that you have found particularly interesting. You can navigate to my Digg RSS Feed via the link below to see some of the blogs that I have been following for my lessons and research:

My Digg RSS Feed: http://digg.com/user/c503aac2f4ee4e4d86f2292138170063/diggs.rss

Diigo.com is a website that provides an organizational tool for keeping track of websites that I have found useful in both my professional and personal life. It has many capabilities including bookmarking sites I have found to be important as well as being able to highlight sections of the webpage that are pertinent to me and my own lessons. 

One of the major benefits of using Diigo.com is that I can access Diigo from any computer using my username and password, which allows me to also access the sites that I have been using for planning lessons or researching information for lessons. Diigo.com has an RSS feed as well that I can send to other instructors to follow so that they can use some of the same websites that I have referenced for their own classes. Essentially, it can be a fast and efficient collaboration tool for teachers around the world. We can share new technologies, research, techniques, and information instantly to keep our classrooms as interesting and relevant as possible. You can navigate to my Diigo.com RSS Feed via the link below and see my recent work and interests.

My Diigo RSS Feed: https://www.diigo.com/rss/user/krisbrowneduc

7th Week: Successes and Failures

My 7th Week student teaching was better than the previous. I was still sick on Monday, which was an in-service day. I went to the doctor and got some medicine, and I even made it into school on Monday for about an hour to talk to Mr. Long. Although, the medicine didn't really start to help until the end of the week, but I muddled through the week with a hoarse voice and low energy.

In the two Entrepreneurship classes, we watched a movie, Ten9Eight, on the Tuesday back, so I didn't have to talk with my hoarse voice. I did, however, teach in the Economics 4th hour class. It was miserable and challenging, but I got the job done. It felt a little awkward to be back after being gone for a week.

The next day, I was able to get in a review of the Market Research section in Entrepreneurship and gave the post-assessment for my teacher work sample. I can now complete my teacher work sample before Spring Break as I had anticipated. We also started the next unit, which was the pricing unit. Some of the students will have more work than others on this section. Those that do retail will have to price out all of their inventory and their equipment and supplies; whereas, those that are doing service businesses will only have to price out their equipment and supplies. It seems to be getting more and more difficult to get the students to be motivated and engaged in the projects. Some of the students don't need any prompting but get the work done easily; however, I have to continually prod a few students to work during class.

A success I had last week was when one of my Entrepreneurship students came up to me after class and apologized for his behavior toward me and in my class. He was respectful and said he was working on getting caught up and doing his work. Just like the Grinch, "My heart grew three sizes that day." I don't enjoy having to stay on top of students to get their work done or having to reprimand students in class. It disengages the class as a whole. This particular student has stayed true to his word for the week, and he paid attention when I was talking and he got his work completed and turned in on time. It was a happy moment for me, and I hope that he continues with this behavior change through the rest of the semester.

On the other hand, I have a student that has been doing other classes' work in my class and not getting his work in my class completed. He is behind on all of the projects, and he is disrespectful to me. He keeps his headphones in his ears when I'm talking to him and he plays with his cell phone. I moved him away from the front of the room to sit next to me where he will have less distractions, and I can keep an eye on him. When Mr. Long returns, I will talk to him about the issue and see what further steps need to be taken in order to get this resolved.

This week was also the Career & Technical Education Advisory Board meeting and breakfast. All of the departments involved including Business, PaCE (a work study program), ACE, and Family and Consumer Sciences were all present along with the advisory board members, who gave input to the programs and how we can improve our work with the students. The Poudre High School catering team made the breakfas, and introduced themselves to the meeting.

A new week is a new opportunity to work on improving. Teaching is a work in progress, and I am continually finding new ways to communicate, engage, and motivate students.

Entrepreneurship Student in the Coloradoan

From: Coloradoan, Feb 8, 2014, by Bob Nightwalker

In my 6th Hour Entrepreneurship, I have a group of three students who sit in the back and are all friends. They are good kids, getting their work in and doing good work, too! They are all members of Future Business Leaders of America and DECA, a high school organized marketing program. One of those is Tallon Nightwalker.

In class, his business plan is to organize and operate a wildlife rehabilitation center. He told me that he works with animals and there currently isn't a program in Fort Collins anymore. His plan is thoughtful and interesting, and he is smart and capable of following through with his plan.

From: Coloradoan, Feb 8, 2014, by Bob Nightwalker

Just last week, Mr. Long showed me the following article in the Coloradoan about Tallon and his father. His passion and his efforts are commendable, and if he continues on his path, I think he will be very successful in this endeavor. These are the students that make teaching worthwhile.

You can read more about Tallon and his father at the link below.

http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2014302080085

6th Week: Bust

My sixth week student teaching was pretty much a bust. I started out Monday planning with Mr. Long and getting ready for the week. It was a rough Monday, too, because the weekend had brought some significant deaths to the school and the school district. The mother of three Poudre High School students was killed over the weekend, and a student at Fossil Ridge High School died following an automobile accident. It was also "America" day at Fort Collins High School, where the administrators and the media were expecting a large turnout for protesting because of the controversy surrounding the previously named "Merica" Day. Fortunately, the press and the buzz fizzled out before anything happened. Everyone went back to their regularly scheduled programs.

For me, Monday was the first day I came down with the crud. I went home early, and that's pretty much where I stayed until Monday morning, when I got up to go to the doctor. I called the doctor first thing on Tuesday, and they were convinced that I had the flu. So, they prescribed me Tamiflu. $130 and five days later, I was still sick. Sunday evening I called the doctor again, and now, they instructed me to go to the emergency room. Scared and skeptical, I stayed home until morning and marched myself to the doctor, where I found out I had a sinus infection, which is why the Tamiflu didn't help. Now, Tuesday, I'm getting better, though, still not 100%.

So, last week taught me to be prepared. I was not expecting to be out for the entire week. However, because I had been prepared for my lessons for the week, I was able to give clear directions on what my classes should do for the substitute teacher and my mentor teacher. I also had to be clear with my communication, letting my mentor teacher know exactly what my plans were and how I was feeling. He couldn't read my mind, so I had to ensure that he was always in the loop. This helped him to plan and determine how to move forward.

I missed out on a few things on Friday: Valentine's Day and a District Business Department meeting. Valentine's Day wasn't as big of a deal as the District Business Department meeting. The district meeting could have proved to be fruitful for networking and engaging in the planning for the next year.

With reports back from my mentor teacher and the substitute, the classes went well and the students all completed their work according to the plans. Now, it's catch up time...

5th Week: Experimenting

My fifth week of student teaching was really about experimenting. Mr. Long was gone on Tuesday for a Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) event in Greeley. With his absence, I took over all of the classes for the day. In International Business, Mr. Long had me show the North Korea Frontline film and answered some essay questions at the end. Because this class is often chatty, I had to move one person to another seat so that everyone could pay attention to the movie. It achieved its purpose, and the class was quiet for the remainder of the movie. The 4th hour Economics class was a bit more demanding. I went over the productivity part of the lesson and de-briefed the pizza activity from the previous week as well as reviewed for the test. Because I had time at the end of the class, I reviewed the worksheet the students were completing. I felt that the students were sufficiently prepared for the test. And, after the test on Thursday, the grades showed that they were prepared. More than half the class made A's, and no one failed the test.

Last Fall, Mr. Long had given me all of the lessons for the Entrepreneurship class, and I began to go over them during the Winter break. Upon going over them, I found some ways to improve some of the lessons. In particular was the Market Research section that had students creating surveys on paper and distributing them via paper. To streamline this section and make it more like real-life, I changed the lesson so that the students made the survey in a GoogleForms and distributed it via email or social media. The 5th Hour class had no problem with putting their surveys into electronic form and distributing it, but I did have problems with the 6th Hour class. Instead of giving into the 6th Hour's requests to print out their forms and distribute them, I stood by my lesson. As a result, the students received good responses, and their results are all put directly into a spreadsheet and graphs are created for them. Now, all they have to do is analyze the data and make recommendations based on the analysis.

One thing that I'm frustrated with is getting some of the students motivated to do the work in the class. It's so fascinating that there are students in the 6th Hour class that would rather just sit and stare at the walls than do the assignments. Of course, they get zeros on the assignments, but they don't seem to care. When I started assigning zeros in the class, I only got one student response via email about the zeros. The others haven't even looked at their grades. I have one student who is in class every class period and simply refuses to do the work in class. She sleeps or has earbuds in her ears to listen to something on her phone (I assume it is music). She claims that she is tired from her club volleyball practices. My question: are her parents so concerned with volleyball that they don't look at her grades and make sure that her grades aren't suffering from practicing so much? In the same class, I finally separated two students that were disruptive and not getting work done, and it seems to have helped. One thing that I am experimenting with is taking the time to go around and talk to the students individually and find out what is going on in their lives that they aren't able to get the work completed. Most of the responses are generic: "I'm too tired," "I'm going to get caught up this weekend," "I already turned it in." So, as another way of ensuring listening, I have decided to have everyone turn off their monitors and take out their headphones while I'm talking. It isn't foolproof. Students still pretend to be apathetic and not listen to me, but I stand a better chance of getting them to listen if I follow through with this action.

One of my students in 6th Hour who is falling behind to get his work in has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). He seems to be disorganized, procrastinates, and generally, has issues getting his work done. Knowing this, I sat down with him today to find out how I can help him to get his work done. I have decided that I will differentiate instruction for him so that he can build a website for his business plan instead of doing all of his work in a Word Application. He enjoys building things, and he seems to learn better by doing so. After talking to Mr. Long, I plan to move forward with this action and determine if this strategy will allow him to learn more from this class.

Because the Market Research lesson requires the students to wait to get responses to their surveys, I'm having the students complete a virtual simulation on the computers in their spare time. This is the sponge activity that provides for learning while we are waiting and before they can complete their Market Research project. I'm excited about some of the projects. Some of the students are taking the projects very seriously and taking the time to format, check it over, and do it well.

In my Front Range Community College classes, I have also done some experimenting. In the Intro to PC Apps class this semester, I have moved the PowerPoint section to the beginning of the semester. I did this because I require the students to give a PowerPoint presentation on a procedure of something they are interested. In this way, we can all get to know each other at the beginning of the semester instead of at the end. It's been a fun experience. We got to see some of the other sides of the students and where their interests lie and who they are. This was so effective that I will continue this into next semester.

In the Social Media Applications class, we are currently creating and publishing blogs, and because this class is new, I'm constantly experimenting. It is a continual process of balance between those students who know how to develop software and are already using social media and those that are still learning how to use some of the applications. They all have the same goals in mind, to learn how to effectively use social media. I have been walking that balance to determine what pieces are most important and what can be set aside. The blogs are the starting point for the projects, and we will build upon these blogs throughout the semester in each section of the course. Their blogs can be viewed on the right side of this page. I'm excited to see the results!

Because I said I would...

On Wednesday, we had a guest speaker at Poudre High School. Alex Sheen, the founder of "Because I said I would," was brought to campus by the AVID group. They raised money through grants and other fundraising to make his visit possible.

Alex Sheen is 28 years old, and he speaks around the country and raises money for people with special needs. He seems to be an ordinary guy, but he has made some amazing dreams come true. His "TedTalk" was both sad and inspiring all at the same time. His message was born from the death of his father. He wanted to remember his father for who he was and not for who he was not, and he was a person of his word who always kept his promises.

This message is so important because our society is suffering from "disposable-itis". We dispose of almost anything that doesn't suit us anymore, including friends. Outdated phones and computers are one thing, but people are not disposable. Just because someone does something that you don't like, doesn't mean that you can't be friends with them anymore. We are all different and have different needs, and we all must live together in this world. Learning to communicate and keep promises is paramount to our making it in this small world.

Social Media has played a role in this "disposable-itis", but we all have the opportunity to change that around. Even though social media gives us the opportunity to be "flaky", we don't have to give into this. As we make dates with friends or promises to family, we must keep them whether we feel like it or not. Just because you had a long day at work, doesn't excuse you from being a good friend, mother, daughter, or husband. You must follow through and be the person you said you would be.

Alex touched on much bigger issues than I am in my blog, but I really believe that it is the small things that make us who we are. It is about getting up from your comfy chair and consoling your friend going through a divorce. It is about putting off an hour of your television time to call your mother. It is also about putting down the cell phone and being present with a friend or family member who needs you.

Teaching high schoolers the importance of making a decision or a promise and sticking to it is probably one of the most valuable things that we can do. I'm not sure that one assembly and a guest speaker can do it, but Alex definitely inspired me to join his cause in my own classrooms and get my own students to make commitments to their studies and even take that out into their lives. When you tell someone you are going to do something, it is important for your character to follow through. After high school, it will be even more important to learn these lessons in order to get along in the world.

4th Week: Comfort Zone

My fourth week student teaching has been much more comfortable. I am feeling more settled, and I'm beginning to find a rhythm with my classes and my students. I still have my challenges with classroom management, but it is getting easier as I try new things and stay consistent.

I have been forced to get out of my comfort zone this week. Monday was a full day. Carol Ann, my CSU Supervisor, came to my 5th Hour Entrepreneurship class to observe my SWOT Analysis lesson, which went delightfully well. The students participated and kept their phones put away. It was a pleasurable class, and I would do it all over again. I used the same class to practice the Market Research Lesson that would be observed on Wednesday in 6th Hour, and it also went well. Students were receptive to the lesson and worked diligently on their projects. I had a few chatty students, but with high school students, I think that is to be expected. One thing that I did differently that worked really well was to ensure that the students weren't logged on to the computers during class. Because they weren't logged in to the computers, there was less distraction.

The 6th Hour Entrepreneurship class, however, has been more of a challenge. There are very strong personalities in this class, so that's the first struggle. I find myself trying to find new ways to communicate with students and find new activities that may help them to engage and learn. Many are distracted by their cell phones and by the computers, so I'm constantly trying to keep them focused and on task. This was the class that was difficult during my observation. Most were unresponsive to my lecture and didn't participate when called upon during discussion. Again, I'm looking for new strategies to reach these students so that they will learn.

Monday was also our first Colorado State University Seminar. Marc Buffington, a Poudre High School Social Studies teacher, is the leader of the seminar. There are fourteen university students in the group. We all introduced ourselves and then talked a little about Response to Intervention (RTI) from an educational perspective. This service allows teachers to report a student that is failing or may not be doing as well as he/she thinks that they should. In reporting these students, educators and counselors can intervene if necessary and put the students on a comprehensive schedule to help them reach their goals. We went through real-life scenarios in groups. Our group read about a girl who had failed the 10th grade. She was missing a lot of class and had some pressure from gangs, but she did want to finish high school. The RTI team put her on an attendance contract and had her favorite teacher mentor her through the rest of high school, and she was able to graduate with A's and B's. In this case, RTI really helped a student to accomplish her goals. While this process doesn't always work, it does give teachers and counselors insight into a students' life and how to help ease some of their frustration along the way.

Mr. Long, my mentor teacher, has been giving lessons all week based on activities that relate to the objectives for the class. One of the activities was a paper airplane making activity in Economics. There were required to create paper airplanes as a group that would fly through a hula hoop. There were three or four rounds. Another activity was a Play-Doh activity in International Business. The students were divided into four or five groups, where some of the groups were Less Developed Countries and others were in Industrialized Countries. They were given specific products to make with prices on them. There were three rounds and some of the groups were able to change into an Developing Country or even an Industrialized Country. These products were made with Play-Doh. The final activity was the Pizza Productivity lesson in Economics. There were four or five rounds; the students were divided into groups of five. Each round was a little different in the way that they made the pizzas. Each round was judged by the teachers for quality, so pizzas were thrown out for not being perfect. There were some formulas that they had to calculate in order to determine the cost of each pizza and how much profit was earned. It was fun and inspiring to see all of the students participating and excited to work on these activities.