Web 2.0 Applications: Glogster

Working With Glogster

Glogster is a relatively simple Web 2.0 application to use, and is dynamic in terms of the content areas it can be utilized in.  In the instance above, I created a report for a short story my pre-AP students are currently reading.

I can definitely see the potential in using Glogster, particularly if I were to assign certain students a certain literary device to look for in a story.  It would be a great indicator of a students comprehension of literary devices, literary analysis, and coherent understanding of plot.  I could see this also being useful in any other subject, particularly in checking for student understanding.

While these e-posters are certainly visually appealing, the major set-back is that you are limited by the cost of being a Glogster member. It is $95 for one teacher + 125 students per year and $390 for up to ten teachers and 250 students per year.  Moreover, when using the free version, you have certain limitations that prevent you from truly getting the full Glogster feel (such as embedding videos in the poster).

That said, if you would like to utilize this, you would definitely need the help of administrators to fund this.   It would be worth it, if you think you and your team have the time and resources to get your (or rather the districts) money's worth.


Here's the link to my Glogster poster :)

"Roman Fever" Glogster

"Discipline with Dignity:" A Book to Remember

"Discipline with Dignity:" A Book to Remember

Whether an experienced teacher, or an inexperienced teacher, we all struggle with maintaining order and peace in the classroom.  I currently work as a middle school ELAR teacher.  As you may or may not know, middle school is a particularly challenging group of students to work with.  I work daily with a group of "in-betweeners," meaning that they are in-between the stage of blind childish obedience and security in their independence as young adults.  The fact is that this group of young adults is not only testing their boundaries, but have just recently discovered that the boundary even exists, and that it is flexible!

When I first began teaching, I found myself struggling to maintain order, not solely because I was inexperienced, but because I was torn in so many directions in trying to discover who I was as a teacher.  I kept getting "words of wisdom" from others who maintained that students needed to fear you in order to respect you.  Fear was equated to respect.

But I felt wrong.

By nature, I am not a "yeller."  By no means am I reserved, nor passive, I simply do not like to yell.  Moreover, growing up in a home where yelling was the sole means to conversing, I am particularly sensitive to yelling, and as a result, did not adapt well to a teaching strategy of yelling at students, and berating them in front of peers to "teach them a lesson."

I needed help and advice, but felt ashamed to ask. My dear and wonderful husband, seeing my struggle and being witness to my tears of frustration gave me a book that changed me as a teacher and helped to set me on the right path.  That book was: "Discipline with Dignity" by Richard L. Curwin, among other writers.

From the book I was able to gain peace.

I would like to emphasize, however, that the teachers who are successful "yellers" are by no means "bad" teachers, they are simply different than myself- and that is okay.  As an educator I have the ability to set the tone of my class, and I chose to be different.  Having a tone of integrity and respect in no way makes my classroom more organized, and my test results better.  In fact, from what I have seen, the teachers who adapt the tactic of fear-based learning have less classroom disruptions, and, at times, may have slightly higher test scores, but the students in my class have learned to make good and right choices, not because "I said so," but because it is the right thing to do.  When I am not present in the classroom, they behave honorably.  If a peer is hurt, they respond with kindness.

I have one example that I will never forget.  This year, I had a particularly "rough" bunch of students in one class.  This group was notorious for their violence, misbehavior, and have even been explicitly "hated" by other teachers at the school. One day, while walking back from lunch (which, by the way, this "rough" class is the most quite and organized group that goes out to lunch), a boy in the class bent to tie his shoe, and his pants ripped.  Not ONE student laughed or snickered.  Immediately a student offered to get a coat to help cover him, so that he could walk to the office to get replacement pants.  It is behavior such as that, that is the result of disciplining with dignity.

I set a tone of integrity and respect in my class, and those are skills that the students in my classes will carry within them for the duration of their life.  When they are adults, they may not remember the theme of "The Giver," they may not remember what alliteration is.  They will remember, however, that their middle school ELAR teacher believed that goodness existed in them, and that they were worthy of respect, even though they were younger and less educated.  Great teachers inspire students to believe that they can achieve their dreams in a world where they are witness to over-whelming failure and sadness.  Great teachers teach lessons that can be carried out into the world, and don't simply exist on paper.

Ronald Reagan once said:

"The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things.  He is the one who gets others to do the greatest things."

While I am far from the "greatest" teacher, I have accomplished greatness by teaching students to show grace and compassion, because their teacher showed it first to them.  

Cursive is dead, and we have killed it!

Is Cursive Relevant in the ELA-R Classroom?

As education tries to catch up with the increasingly viable importance of technology in the classroom, the question I find myself asking as a middle school ELAR teacher is "is cursive still relevant?"  As a member of the Millennial Generation I was one of the last groups of children where the ability to write in cursive was decidedly important, as it was core to the curriculum teacher's based their lessons upon.  Now as an educator myself, I find that few middle school students know how to write in cursive.  In fact, cursive writing has altogether been removed from many state teaching standards for elementary school.

While I can understand how the teaching of cursive has become devalued in a society where the future is in the ability to understand how to use computers and engage in technology, my problem becomes why cursive lessons have not been replaced with typing lessons?  Now, the students entering into the middle school classroom are unable to write in cursive and unable to type.  This is a major problem when it appears that typing is something students are taught in high school (sometimes), and the ultimate desire of any modern-day educator is to integrate technology in the classroom in every level of education.  Furthermore, the inability to type creates students who are fearful of expressing their thoughts on a computer.  Rather than enhance  expression, anything where typing is necessary becomes more of a hindrance to students.

The unfair assumption has become that the ability of students to access social media means that they are media-literate.  This could not be further from the truth.  Sure students can text, upload selfies, and make minuscule comments on their friend's status', but that is a far cry from being able to type a research essay or collaborate with peers in an online discussion about the various themes found in a text.

My proposition is: teach students typing in elementary.  

By students entering into middle school and high school with the necessary foundations of media-literacy we can open the doors of possibility for educators to use technology in the classroom, and for the students to have the confidence and necessary tools in their belt to dive in and express themselves with full confidence.

While there are many educators out there in the United States who have entering into the classroom students who are fully capable of typing, among many other skills in terms of their interaction with technology, the group of students borne into a lower socio-economic standing do not have these skills.  In order to level the playing field for students of every background, typing needs to become a part of the elementary school curriculum.  

Yes, cursive may be dead in education, but there needs to be a replacement that speaks to the needs of the tech-savy society our students live in.

Video:  "Cursive is Dead!"