Students Using Facebook for Good Instead of Evil

        Facebook isn't blocked at my school and it can be a huge pain in the butt, but at other times it is a really easy way to get information out to students quickly.  If I want a student to check out a link I can post it to my facebook page.  Its a fan page AKA like page, so students don't have to worry about me seeing what they post about the past weekend and I don't have to worry about my students seeing what I posted about last weekend.  You can post homework, important messages, jokes relating to your subject area and I like to slip in some articles relating to my classes once in a while too.  Facebook is the new e-mail and teaching students to use it appropriately and for legitimate reasons will be beneficial to them in many aspects of  their  future.
       More than just using Facebook to communicate with students, students can use it to communicate information about a topic.  If students create a fan page for the topic they can easily add images, videos, likes and  information relating to the topic.   It can also be a lot of fun to make up posts for the fungi kingdom.  "My chitin is chafing". Using Facebook would be especially great for historical figures or other biography type assignments.
       Another wonderful use of Facebook is to give students contact with professionals on topics.  Once again I wouldn't recommend a student befriend a random stranger but I think its OK for a student to join a Facebook group or like a page for a professional group or interest.  An example is a student a couple of years back was studying radiology and was able to like a page and ask 20,000 other people interested in radiology (most of them radiologists) all sorts of questions. 
     Facebook can be a pain to monitor but if the students are using their "powers for good instead of evil" it can be a wonderful learning tool.  Hey, like my Facebook page "Quick and Easy Teacher Tech". 

The New Graphic Organizer

Graphic organizers have always been an important form of learning for students.  It takes the important aspects of a unit and places them into an easily retrievable form.  With the use of google docs and the internet we can now take graphic organizers to the next level.  They can include images, links, sounds and videos (of themselves would be even better).  In this first simple graphic organizer, I include only images to aid students understanding of the basics of the lymphatic system.  Once again, the beauty of google docs makes this easy to manage and assess students learning even if you are at a conference in another part of the country.  Its important to try to word prompts in a way to make sure students don't just copy and paste.  Instead of asking for definitions ask for definitions in under 10 words or in exactly 15 words.  This is something I didn't do with this graphic organizer and had trouble with students ctrl c and ctrl v'ing.  Although simple, the process of students using the internet to research and insert images gets them comfortable with some of the most commonly used applications of the internet. 
An interesting side note:  at the NESSC conference this past week I went to a presentation by a school (Hall Dale)  that is using Marzono's Taxonomy instead of Bloom's.  The first level was retrieval not remembering.  I think this better matches what students will need for the future.  All information is available at your fingertips what you do with it is more important than knowing it.  What would your tests look like if students could use the internet to take them?  I guess the better question would be what would my tests look like.  Something for me (and you) to think on. 

The orignal google doc

WEBSTORM!

       So, I thought I had coined a new phrase the other day when I told my students to webstorm in class.  Evidently, webstorm is already some java thing.  However, that has nothing to do with what my webstorm is.  Brainstorming on topics has been a long standing introduction to a unit or to a lesson.  "Tell me what you already know."  I'm not sure how much learning that actually brings about.  It may remind students of what they've learned in the past but then it stops. Most teachers then switch to direct instruction and the students lose their curiosity.  I offer an alternative: "Webstorm".  Its driven by the students' initial curiosity and incites curiosity in future lessons.
       Webstorming is simple.  Give the students a shared space and give them 10 minutes to find out and share as much information about a topic as possible.  They are also encouraged to share what they already know, which can usually be done in the first minute before they explore the web looking for videos, definitions, pictures or anything that explains the topic. The students can make connections from researching on-line and also by seeing what others have posted.  I like to post questions that draw out deeper research about half way through the time.
       The students can take a few minutes for the "calm after the storm" to look quietly at what others have posted.  They can respond, ask questions or just view quietly depending on the topic.
     My favorite site for webstorming is called Wallwisher.  It allows students to post stickies without creating accounts.  You can create accounts for all your students if you want but this is supposed to be quick tech as well as easy.  Without accounts you do need to be vigilant and refresh continuously so you can delete anything someone posts that is inappropriate.  The teacher needs to create an account to create walls but then students can get to the walls with just a link.  Its simple, its quick and the kids seem to love it and get a lot from it.  

Label a fish or anything else.

If you don't have google accounts for all of your students, its time to talk to your administration and get them.  Google Docs can take your classroom to the next level allowing students to collaborate and allowing you to see what progress students make though out the day. The best part is that it is free and easy to use.

Using google docs is incredibly simple and takes very little set up time for cool little assignments.  Here's one I did today. Using google Docs I created a drawing and then copied a picture to the drawing. I shared the document with each student. The students then labeled the parts of a fish using simple text boxes and lines. Google docs work best once you have trained your students to use them.  You can share the image with the whole class but not give sharing privileges.  The students can then make a copy and share it with you and whoever you allow them to collaborate with.  I really think google docs style collaboration is how the world will work in the very near future.  Here's what the fish looked like in less than 10 minutes, I gave them a grade for the work and they can use the image to study from and add to.  Seems like a great idea for geography or anything with parts for students learn.