The Power and Simplicity of a Digital Story

When I first read the assignment for the digital story, I was a little overwhelmed. It sounded like it would be extremely difficult and time consuming. While it did take a little time, it was extremely simple, and the result was very powerful.


I decided to do my story on my 14 month old daughter, Mackenzie Rayne. This made sense considering she has been the center of my universe since before she was born, and I have what seems like a million pictures of her. If I couldn't make this work, there are issues outside the realm of the assignment.

After spending a little time selecting my photos, I had to find a song to use for the background music. I went will Seasons of Love from the Rent Soundtrack. It went well with both the message and time frame. The song talks about the ways to measure love during the course of a year, which is what my theme was all about...Mackenzie's 1st year.

When it was finished, I showed it to my wife. She didn't cry, but she was very moved. Grandma and Grandpa were equally touched, not to mention her aunt's and uncle. What took me a matter of a few hours has become a memento that will be used to embarass her with later. After all, that is our job as her parents.

I hope you enjoy it too!

Classroom Organization...The Little Things

I have long been aware of the importance of classroom organization. Even this year, I have been trying to make it a point to notice the differences between what I have seen in the past and what is done at Dominion Trail Elementary. As it turns out, it's the little things that make the biggest difference.

It seems fairly obvious that we want our classrooms to be as organized as possible. When I think about this, I am usually pondering my file cabinet, my desk, book shelves, etc. Today I noticed for the first time, even though it had been like this all year, how my third grade class organizes their pens and pencils for each student.

Third grade at DTES is departmentalized, meaning they switch classrooms for different content instruction. While this is the first time I have seen this in third grade, it is not a new concept for me. What is new is how the teachers handle the pen and pencil issues. She keeps a container on each group of desks filled with pens for marking assignments and pencils to be used during class. I know this sounds trivial, but it is genius! When students switch from class to class, it is a given that at least a couple students will forget their pencil. This way, the problem is eliminated. Also, because the pencils are pre-sharpened, there is virtually never the delay for students to sharpen their pencil. This simple step provides the classroom teacher as much as four or five extra minutes of instruction time.

I think the reason this was just noticed is the second grade class I work with started a program called Power Up this week. The students travel to preassigned classrooms for math enrichment/remediation. We spent the better part of three minutes handing out supplies to the students. Some students brought their own pencils, while others needed to have them supplied. You ask who needs a pencil, and inevitably, someone needs a pencil and does not ask for one creating even more delay after the lesson has begun.

Believe me...I know this sounds silly, but the little things you can do to keep instruction fluid are ultimately...priceless!

Wiki's as a Resource

Wiki's can be extremely powerful tools or as simple as a bulletin board. One example of a simple Wiki is our class Wiki (frilit). At this point, it is only a couple of pages and does not have any true usefullness (other than as a teaching tool). A more complex and power Wiki is Wikipedia. I happened to stumble across a Teacher's Paradise link when researching the temperature of the Earth's inner core. What I thought was a website was actually referencing an article in Wikipedia. This is a cool use of the resource.

However, teachers need to use caution when using Wiki's within the classroom as they could create more problems than they are worth. While this is personal opinion, I feel the need to share it. Wiki's, when used in small groups, can be fantastic. Having students collaborate on a project and each input their share of the work is useful for a couple of reasons. The first benefit is for the teacher. When a student adds information to the site, the teacher has visibility of the changes so accountability can be maintained. The second benefit is for the students. Having a group Wiki can allow students to collaborate online without having to physically meet. This is a nice benefit because parents do not have to coordinate with each other to get their children together for a brief period of time. It also provides the students with a medium that can be viewed by the world (unless prior restrictions have been made). Often times, this is not the desired outcome, but students do enjoy being able to show off their hard work.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, Wiki's do have the potential to be the source of headaches. Have you ever heard the expression "Too many cooks spoiled the soup."? In our class's brief use of Wiki's, we have already seen this happen. We were fortunate that no work was compromised, but it could have easily created problems. As long as the groups using it are small (e.g. grade-level teams of teachers and groups of four or five students), they are a viable option. For me, the above situation all but eliminates Wiki's as an option for whole class assignments. Blogs would be a better option.

Blogs Encourage Critical Thinking

Diane Penrod tells us in her book, Using Blogs to Enhance Literacy, that blogs encourage critical thinking by student authors. I have seen proof of this in the classroom. While a blog was not the medium used, I have seen students have to create and then respond to the writings of other students. They did an excellent job forcing the issues and not simply accepting what they were reading. The problem...the task took forever! Having students hand write documents can be a lengthy process. It's an important process, but lengthy nonetheless. Using a blog for this type of activity could greatly speed up the activity. Students don't have to try to decipher the writing of their classmates which allows them to focus on the content.

Another benefit of blogging is the quick response. Students can receive the feedback/criticism immediately, keeping the ideas fresh in their heads! More importantly, they know feedback is coming, so they take the time to write intelligent, well thought, posts. The dialogue that is created can lead to an expansion of "their knowledge and background on various academic subjects" (Penrod, p. 24).

The Ups and Downs of a Preservice Teacher's Confidence

After working in public schools as a special education teacher's aide, I felt more than ready to be a classroom teacher. All I needed was the undergrad degree to be eligible for the position. With the job market in flux, I would end up needing more. I would need my Master's degree. I remember when I first learned about GMU's "Bridge" program. I was excited that I would be able to earn my Master's in a year and a half. Keeping in mind my extremely high level of confidence, I attended an information session and experienced a completely different feeling...fear.

Will I be able to keep up with my school work?

If I can complete the program, will I be able to find a job?

etc., etc., etc.

Now that we are getting close to finishing, most of my fears have subsided. However, if I had the opportunity to choose a different program, I think I would. This has been a wild ride with many pluses. Besides the chance to complete my degree quickly, I have met many wonderful people (classmates and professors alike). But there have been minuses as well. I still question how ready I will be when I start working in my own classroom. I feel comfortable now, but the support system in place makes it extremely difficult to fail. What will happen when the safety cord is cut?

At the beginning of this post, I mentioned my extreme confidence going into the program. Now, my confidence is at an all-time low. If it has done nothing else, this program has shown me how little I knew about being a teacher. I try to look at this as a positive. It could have been disastrous for me to get a classroom without this training, but sometimes the lessons become overwhelming. I'm sure my feelings are not unique. I only hope I am absorbing the multitudes of information being presented, so I can be, at a minimum, a competent first year teacher.