Kimberly Moen's Blog
Posted by Kimberly Moen
When I began teaching junior high school, fresh out of my internship, I was lucky to have been exposed to a wonderful supervising teacher who had phenomenal classroom management techniques. Her techniques were so good, in fact, that a guest would never even realize she was employing a classroom management plan. When classroom rules are met well, one never thinks about it, so I never thought about it…until the day I took over the class.
Just as any “green” junior high teacher knows, classroom management can be daunting, to say the very least. Imagine yourself, inexperience, in front of a group of 40 energetic, social, “gifted” students: these almost-adult students like to test every boundary. Within fifteen minutes, I realized that I must have gone into the wrong classroom, because just the day before, with my supervising teacher, these over-achievers were a group of lovelies that I couldn’t wait to have under my wings, but at that moment there seemed to be mob contagion.
Quickly and in a quiet panic, as I reviewed my well-thought-out lesson plans in front of the class, I realized that I needed to do something—FAST—or I’d lose control, and once that’s gone, it’s never the same. Then, it came to me: my supervising teacher always set the tone, and she never raised her voice, or seemed out of control. I distinctly remember, as if a filmstrip were playing in my head, seeing her techniques in my mind: if students began talking, she stopped talking! If a student acted out, she used proximity control. So, I immediately stopped talking to the classroom, and waited for them to notice…and they did! They stopped talking. I had set the tone, and the students were following it. I’m happy to say that although I had a few students test my classroom management abilities that semester, I passed with flying colors: I was offered a job at the school the following September.
Fortunately, I didn’t have a classroom full of distracting computers that students could hide behind, like I have had in recent years. If you find your traditional classroom management plan isn’t working in your technology-enhanced classroom, you may need to look into classroom management programs. This week’s article, Classroom Management Programs, reviews software features that help manage the technology-based classroom and enhance student learning.
If you have any classroom management techniques that you’d like to share, please start a discussion or email me.
Posted by Kimberly Moen
While I was researching Internet safety for this week’s article Internet Safety Programs, I happened upon the FBI’s publication, A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety. At first, I was a bit annoyed that this site seemed to underestimate parents’ ability to understand their children because the site listed some vague indicators that a child could be at risk online, such as:
- Your child spends large amounts of time on-line, especially at night.
- Your child turns the computer monitor off or quickly changes the screen on the monitor when you come into the room.
- Your child becomes withdrawn from the family.
There are several other symptoms listed, which seem much more indicative of a possible threat to a child’s Internet safety.
I suppose these particular warning signs offended me because my son, now 23-years-old, did these things when he was in college, exactly as written by the FBI (and quoted here), yet my husband and I never once suspected he was in danger online, except of failing a test or two.
Then I realized that perhaps I was being just a bit defensive because we didn’t think that such a horrible thing could happen to a college student—someone who was, by most definitions, an adult, capable of making rational decisions about his online safety. It never even occurred to us, and I wonder how many other parents out there have done the same.
Were we naive? When should parents stop teaching (or preaching) Internet safety to their children? So many programs focus on younger children, and with good reason, but should we be concerned about our young adult children as well? Please email me with your thoughts.
If you’re interested in finding out what you can do to increase awareness about Internet safety, no matter what your child’s age, take a look at these Internet Safety Programs available to parents, students, and educators.
Posted by Kimberly Moen
This week’s article, Interactive Whiteboard Study reviews the interactive whiteboard, or SmartBoard (brand) as many call it. Learn how this interactive learning method works, and read about a study that reveals how this classroom technology can change your workload and your students’ learning.
Although the article primarily discusses the interactive whiteboard, there are other interactive learning products available. For example, there’s a portable interactive panel that can be connected to the PC that works well for roaming teachers and an interactive panel that attaches to a wall-mounted plasma screen, which offers functionality not available with the Interactive Whiteboard.
Portable Interactive Panels
Interactive panels, when connected to the PC (desktop or notebook and a projector), also allow you to face your classroom while you teach, edit, and annotate computer applications directly from the panel. Using an interactive panel is very similar to using an interactive whiteboard, except the panels are usually much smaller: 15", 17" or 18". However, the screen image can be projected through a multimedia projector to various sizes onto a screen, making it perfect for large auditoriums and lecture halls. The advantage to an interactive panel is that it’s portable, making it ideal for roaming teachers or limited budgets.
Panels for Plasma
Plasma screens with an interactive panel or overlay have the same functionality as interactive whiteboards; however, they offer even more versatility because they can also be used as televisions to utilize public education channels or DVD’s.
Another advantage of using a plasma screen is that the presenter doesn’t cast a shadow, unlike front-projection interactive whiteboards. The biggest disadvantage with the plasma screen is the cost and screen size (40-52”). However, plasma screens do provide much sharper images than do similarly priced projectors.
If you would like to learn how the interactive whiteboard works or how it can impact your workload and your students’ learning, read Interactive Whiteboard Study. Also, please participate in our poll: select SmartBoard if you already use an interactive whiteboard.
Posted by Kimberly Moen
The National Association for Educational Progress published a report, which I read this week The report compares charter schools with public schools, in terms of mean scores from reading and math testing. The fourth-grade NAEP assessments indicate that, after making adjustments for demographics, charter school average scores in reading and mathematics were lower than scores from traditional public schools. Score differences were smaller in reading than in mathematics.
These findings are very interesting, particularly to parents who may be thinking about sending their children to a charter school. Many charter schools are affiliate with a public school district but are not subject to the same regulations, for example, faculty employment selection criteria, curricula, or courses offerings. They provide a unique approach to education for gifted students or those students who may thrive in a non-traditional learning environment.
Do you teach in a charter school? Does your child attend a charter school? Would you agree that your students may not be testing as well as those in traditional public schools? If so, why? Please email me or post to the Discussion link.
Posted by Kimberly Moen
Last week after posting the article Digital Storytelling Simplified, I received two emails from teachers, one of whom was using a similar simplified method with success; the other teacher asked me why digital storytelling has become so popular in classrooms.
What a great question! How would you respond if someone asked you why you want to use digital storytelling? Email me! I had my own suspicions, but I found several sources that claim digital storytelling can increase your students’ participation by involving them in the creation process; additionally, it can enhance your students’ comprehension and memory by associating events with emotions and images, for example. Let’s compare reading a paragraph from a history book during a unit on World War I, with the same information shared through digital storytelling: the story reveals the events of Private Victor Silvester’s last week of life, in the trenches. One of your students reads the diary entry while images of soldiers in trenches appear on the projector screen and sounds of bombs exploding echo in the background: “As we were moving up to our sector along the communication trenches, a shell burst ahead of me and one of my platoon dropped. He was the first man I ever saw killed. Both his legs were blown off and the whole of his face and body was peppered with shrapnel. The sight turned my stomach. I was sick and terrified, but even more frightened of showing it” (War Diary extracts).
This is a real experience for students, not a paragraph in a textbook: the emotion of the story relayed through voice inflection, enhanced with images of the trenches and an audio clip of bombs exploding, all combine to pique each learning modality.
In this week’s article, Digital Storytelling, I walk step-by-step through using Windows Movie Maker to create a digital storytelling presentation, and I include several Internet resources for free images and audio clips to enhance any digital story.
If you have a great resource that you use to create digital storytelling projects, please email me.
Posted by Kimberly Moen
As I was researching digital storytelling for this week’s article, Part I of a two-part series, Digital Storytelling Simplified, I realized how intimidating this method of sharing and learning can be for educators and students who don’t use technology in this way. I think the intimidation comes from the term “digital.” When we see such a nebulous word, we fear the unknown. Then I realized that digital storytelling is simply show-and-tell with a twist.
Once we can associate the unknown with something we understand and feel comfortable with, it seems less tenuous, so I set out to simply the process of digital storytelling into three simple steps. After we become comfortable with sharing and learning this way, we can transition from graphic storytelling to digital storytelling, utilizing technology in the classroom. By graphic storytelling, I’m not referring to the use of simple comics; I’m including images, illustrations, photographs, etc.
Many schools in my area (suburbs of Chicago) have had digital storytelling programs for several years, but some of my friends who are teachers feel the delivery method is overwhelming or too complicated to try. They’ve attended workshops for a few Flash-based programs, or similar products, but they feel it’s just too difficult for them—and these are intelligent, resourceful teachers! They express the desire to participate in digital storytelling, but they often feel that some technology in the classroom is just too difficult to use.
Teachers have been participating in storytelling in their classrooms for years, but the gap hasn’t been bridged between what they’ve been doing and this new form of delivery: digital storytelling. It seems the workshops discuss the benefits and demonstrate a piece of software, but they don’t connect this form of teaching and learning to what teachers have been doing successfully. This gap leaves wonderful educators feeling left out.
If you’re ready to apply the principals of digital storytelling to a simpler format of delivery, graphic storytelling, take a look at Part I of Digital Storytelling Simplified. Next week, in Part II, I’ll include resources that will help you advance your storytelling to a digital delivery format, using Windows Movie Maker. If you've used WMM and have any questions or comments you'd like me to share in next week's article, please email me.
Posted by Kimberly Moen
When I was completing my student teaching, I finally saw the end of my education nearing—or so I thought, and I couldn’t have been happier: I was ready to finally start making some money, but I had no idea that teachers with a BA were earning about 5% less than teachers holding a MA, with the same tenure. Knowing that fact probably wouldn’t have prompted me to get my MA that early anyway, because my first few years of teaching were hectic.
If you’ve finally gotten all your preps honed to an art, you may want to look into some of the options that allow teachers to earn a degree online, specifically an online accredited degree that will help you expand your knowledge and increase your salary, and what teacher doesn’t want both of those?
Take a look at the key factors that will help you decide if an online graduate degree is right for you. You’ll find that not every online degree program is worth the time or money. This week's article, Teachers Earn a Degree Online, will help you understand crucial elements that help you select an online graduate degree in Education. Explore accreditation, district acceptance, technology/equipment required, programs, costs, and more.
Is there a stigma attached to this type of degree? Have you considered an online degree program, but you're afraid your district won't accept it as credible or valid? With affordable technology and easy access to the Internet, at least teachers today have the option of getting an online graduate degree, an opportunity so many teachers in the past never even dreamed of having.
I have a girlfriend who teaches high school English in Virginia; she and I were discussing the acceptability of online degree programs, and she’s spoken with her department chair about them. Her chairperson is relatively tech-savvy, so she had positive things to say about the opportunity to earn a degree online, but I’m sure there are some administrators out there who frown upon it.
What do you think? Have you spoken to any of your colleagues or administrators about an online graduate degree? I’m curious to hear what you have to say. Please email me -- I’d love to hear and share your comments.
