Blogs, Movie Guides, and the Election

It has been a little while since I have been able to sit down and post since I have now jumped into the technology with both feet. With everything else going on, I was a little behind the curve on fully incorporating the technology until the middle of October. However, the netbooks have made everything in my classroom go much smoother. This is my synopsis of my 2 different classes and their exposure to the grant.

US History: After setting up the Ning network, my US History students began working on blogging full time. They first would go to the Ning to get a pdf of their notes for the day and where able to fill in their notes on their pace. With some of my classes being almost 30% Special Ed. this was an AMAZING transformation. The information was in a condensed version right in front of them, and they did not have to tell me to slow down so they could get all the notes. They were able to do it and ask in depth questions. Once they were finished with the notes, they had to answer questions on the blog that asked them to analyze the notes and what they had learned. They were then able to use their netbooks and notes to create sensory characters of the Jazz Age where they drew a person from the Jazz Age depending on who they drew from the cup (i.e Charles Lindbergh, Clarence Darrow) and show what that person would see, hear, or feel. I feel like in this lesson we incorporated both the tecnology and the tactile learning that students enjoy so much. I had several students tell me it was the best class they had ever had. I also had a student that can be a trouble maker in general, that never asks questions, ask pointed questions about the lesson and was able to make inferences, asking "What effect does illegal money (i.e. bootleggers) have on everyone else?" It honestly took me a moment to answer because I was so surprised :)

AP Government: My AP students have also done their notes on the Ning, but my favorite activity with them has been a twist on the traditional movie guide. I only show one movie in my AP class, so they were all ready to watch. When they came in to class, they got the netbooks and logged onto the Ning. As they watched, during key moments, I would post a question on the blog that they had to answer. It was an interesting experience to get real-time feedback on the pressing issues of the movie. In one class I had over 150 responses.
*The other activity that we did, was internet based. When studying the election process, students participated in an election simulation from http://broadband.ciconline.org/elections/ where they had to choose which party they were running from, where to campaign, how much money to spend, etc. After winning or losing the election, they had to blog about their decisions and how it affected the outcome. It was interesting to see the students get active information that they could then incorporate to their learning style.

The best thing about the grant aside from seeing the students constantly being actively engaged, is the ease of differentiation. We try to differentiate as much as possible but there are certain things that it becomes difficult to do without separating the students. With this, there is an ease and every student is able to do and learn the best way for them.

Next up for me is learning how to work the Wii games for the classroom, as we start World War II in January so with both me and the students being excited about the prospect, it should be a great Spring semester.