Student Author Discussions

As a language arts teacher, one of the most important things I want to instill in my students is the belief that they are writers. Although all students typically write on a daily basis in school, they generally do not consider themselves to be writers. Instead, they write for their teachers in hopes that they receive a good grade (following all of the teacher’s expectations). Writing becomes a chore to students; something that they only do when it is required. In order to break this vicious writing cycle, it is important that students be treated as professional writers. Utilizing a social networking tool, students can create their own author profile and interact with other student writers in and outside of the immediate classroom.

The social networking tool that I would choose to use in order to implement this and other educational lessons is Ning.com. Ning gives teachers the ability to control what is posted and viewed by students and is already used by many teachers across the nation. I am currently using Ning.com to communicate with other educators who are involved in a year-long professional development opportunity called the Literary Consortium. On the first day of the conference, educators interviewed each other. Since then, our interviews have been posted to our profile page so that we can learn about all attendants of the conference. We are able to communicate about topics that are covered in the conference in a closed network that outside Ning users do not have access to. Using Ning as a social networking tool in the classroom is safe, simple, and effective when there is a need for student collaboration.

One way that I would use Ning in my own classroom would revolve around student writing. Once students were finished a writing piece (narrative, essay, interview, poem, etc.), they would post their final product to their Ning account. Students would create author profiles about themselves based on their experiences with writing. The Ning account would give students the ability to advertise their own writing to other student authors. Once the writing pieces were posted, students would then have the opportunity to read other student writing. Students would then post questions or comments about the writing to the student author’s Ning page. This would give students the ability to read, analyze, and respond to other student writing. At the same time, students would receive feedback on their own writing. Peer feedback is often more significant than teacher feedback to young authors. By using a social networking tool, students would be able to receive a large amount of peer feedback and be able to reflect on other student writing simultaneously.

The Ning network could be created for all of my language arts classes. However, if other teachers were interested, the network could include as many student writers as needed. In my school, I am one of three seventh grade language arts teachers. All of our students wrote a narrative at the beginning of the year. The narratives are displayed in the library for students and teachers to read. We discussed developing an “Ask the Author” unit where our students would first read the narratives from another class. Then on a select day, classes would come together to discuss the stories with the authors. Unfortunately, the difference in schedules between our classes hindered this process. Some classes would not be able to participate because there is not another language arts class during their period on any day. However, through social networking, students could discuss their writing with each other without needing to be together at the same time.

It is essential for teachers who use social networking in their classroom to be fully aware of the problems that they may face when using this technology. Giving students the opportunity to use social networking will give them the freedom to communicate with each other at will. Teachers must discuss the importance of using positive feedback when responding to peer writing. If students use their social networking capabilities to bully or negatively impact each other, then the usefulness of any lesson is depleted. In order to be sure that students are using the social networking tool appropriately, teachers must give clear expectations. Permission forms should be sent home for parents to sign so that families are aware of the online activities their children will be involved in. More importantly students should sign a detailed consent form agreeing to the rules that are in place regarding social networking.

Below are statements that students would need to agree with prior to using social networking in the classroom. (Taken from my district’s technology consent form and adapted for the purposes of the lesson above)

1.I will only use the social networking site (Ning.com) for educational purposes.
2.I will only use appropriate language and polite responses when responding to peer writing.
3.I will not post unethical, illegal, immoral, inappropriate, or obscene material.
4.I will not disclose, use, or disseminate personal information.
5.I will respect network security and not attempt to bypass it.
6.I will treat the computer with care and respect.

Using Twitter in Writing

One social networking activity that I found to be of interest is called “creative story theme.” Students in my classroom recently finished writing a narrative based on island survival and suspense. I thought that this Twitter activity could enhance the creative writing experience that my students have when developing narratives. Students would begin the activity by writing an opener for their island story.

Ex. “Jon was sprinting through the path he had carved months ago when he arrived on the island. He almost triggered the trap he had constructed from the blood berry vine and sticks he had retrieved earlier. Jon had never been very fast and that much had definitely changed about him. He had also gained several layers of raw muscle; however, it was still no use against the native from Doom Island who was now chasing him.”
~An opening excerpt taken from one of my student’s stories

Once students tweet an opening to their story, they read and add on to other openings posted by students on the network. The network can be comprised of other students in the same grade level, school, or even from around the world. Students contribute to each other’s stories until all students in the network have written excerpts for a set number of other tweets. Then, students work on developing a coherent story based on the excerpts that were tweeted.

The benefits of using social networking to collaboratively write a story outweigh the problems. Utilizing other students’ ideas help to extend student thought, understanding of varied sentence structure, development of plot, etc. When writing the stories simply with a pen and paper on their own, students miss out on collaborating and learning with their peers. I also think that students would be motivated to work with peers outside of the immediate classroom. It is critical that the teacher maintains a constant presence when students are tweeting and that the students are guided through higher order questioning while writing their excerpts.

Web-based Presentation

I decided to use prezi.com to create my first web-based presentation. I knew right away that I was going to use prezi.com from the video posted on the class website. It was SO COOL! I signed up right away at the end of the video. The registration process was easy and painless. Prezi sent me a link on my email account to finalize the registration and I was ready to go! I first watched a couple informational videos that were recommended by the site. I learned how to add text, draw lines, connect information, upload pictures, etc. Although the videos were helpful and interesting, I was still completely lost when creating my first presentation. The concept of having one blank screen to add all of the information to was completely new for me. In Power Point presentations, each slide is a new topic with new information. However, with Prezi all of the information is created on one blank page and then connected to each other through “paths.” I know that if I was not required to create a web-based presentation in this class, then I would have probably given up and gone back to a Power Point right away. However, with a little time and effort, I am starting to really get used to the program and am loving the uniqueness of it.

I wanted to create a presentation about the elements of plot in a story since this is something that I teach my students during the first half of the year. Prezi allowed me to create a line to show the plot diagram and progression of elements. I was able to manipulate each item by using the “place” button. After selecting “place,” you can maneuver each item whether it is a picture, drawing or text so that it is the right size and location. Text can be created in any location and in different sizes, fonts, and formats. Pictures and diagrams can be uploaded from your computer. I did not use this feature because I had nothing applicable on file to enhance the presentation. The best feature is the “paths” tool where you can sequence the presentation for the viewer. I was able to clear the paths that I created after seeing how they were displayed in the presentation and could easily make new ones that were more effective.

Once your presentation is complete, it can be saved and downloaded onto your computer. I found this process to be quick and easy. However, the file will originally save in an extremely remote location so that you will never be able to find it. Therefore, I suggest copying the folder and pasting it to your desktop or documents for more efficient access. I also love that the presentation is always a work in progress. You can go back and change anything you want to on your presentation at any time and re-save.

Overall, Prezi is an excellent web-based presentation application. The look of the presentation can be really amazing and the fact that the presentation is interactive really makes the learning effective. Unfortunately, it does take a while to learn how to utilize the features. But once you understand how all of it work, the final product is really amazing!

Other reviews:
http://www.rethinkpresentations.com/prezi-review-more-than-buzz/
http://www.appappeal.com/app/prezi/
http://alikuru.com/prezi-early-review-will-definitely-change-your-mind-about-other-presentation-tools/