Professional Development via YouTube

Debbie Diller, author of Spaces and Places: Designing Classrooms for Literacy and Teaching with Intention, speaks about creating a classroom environment with learning in mind. A great introduction to the topic for novice and experienced teachers alike; be sure to check out her books for more information.

This book is just one of the over 100 videos available for teachers at the Stenhouse Publishers YouTube Channel. You can also check out Debbie Diller's blog for more inspiration.

Presentation and Workshop Documents

From a friend on Twitter comes this link to Presentation and Workshop Documents, a great collection of original how-to's offered by John Larkin. His knowledge of Web 2.0 is quite extensive, and he has some terrific resources offered at this site.

If you're a proficient user of all things Web 2.0, perhaps this is a link you can pass on to your newbie friends.

How to Teach Reading and Language Arts

In response to one frequent reader of my Teach with Picture Books blog, I have created a lens over at Squidoo (How to Teach Reading and Language Arts) that aggregates the feeds from my three blogs into one place. So now it's easy to see the last four posts of each of those sites in one location. For all the graphics and certainly the video clips, you'll need to click on individual posts, but at least now you've got a single vantage point to check out my latest resources and rants.

While there you'll also find the lenses (static sites) that support each of those blogs. These static sites contain links and information which you'll never see on the blogs, so be sure to stop by and visit those as well. Teaching with Picture Books features 13 reasons why upper elementary and middle school teachers should be using picture books in the classroom (a great resource if you're trying to convince teachers, colleagues, or your boss of the importance of picture books), How to Teach a Novel features ten steps to doing it well (notice I didn't say ten easy steps), and Teaching that Sticks provides an overview of the best-selling Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die (which inspired that workshop and the blog that you're reading right now).

How to Teach Reading and Language Arts will change almost daily, so stop by often to see what's being served up.

Organizing Thinking

Often in our attempts to do what is best for students, we often forget to simply help them do what is best for themselves. Graphic organizers are an effective tool that allow students to think for themselves, or to organize information when reading novels or texts.

I know, graphic organizers are nothing new. But take a look at what else is out there. There's certainly more than Venn diagrams and Cornell notes. A great first place to look is Freeology.com where you'll find over fifty organizers in pdf format.

From that site:

Why do they work?
Random facts are quickly lost. However, the brain's ability to store pictures is unlimited. And since the brain likes to chunk information, the graphic organizer complements the way the brain naturally works.

When do they work?
Graphic organizers will be beneficial to students whenever they are given new information. They can be used to sequence, brainstorm and organize. During reading and listening students should be encouraged to graphically organize new information.

Need a few more? I doubt it, but here are a few that I've used as well.

ABC's of the Writing Process Links to many graphic organizers.

Enchanted Learning Organizers Printable hand-outs.

Free Printable Graphic Organizers Frequently updated list of organizers.

Graphic Organizer Creator Create timelines, concept webs, Venns, and more for free at this site.

Graphic Organizers HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Extensive excellent list from Region 15 school district in Connecticut.

Graphic Organizers (Links) Links to many types of organizers.

Graphic Organizers for Kids Kid friendly.

Graphic Orgs for Literacy Graphic Organizers for Literature

LATCH Organization LATCH acronym stands for 5 ways to organize ideas.

MOSAIC Listserve Awesome list of organizers in pdf or Word format.

Skills Continuum Different organizers with guiding Qs.

Tools for Reading, Writing, & Thinking What it says.

Various GOs Listed by category.

Venn Diagram Interactive Create a Venn Diagram online.

WriteDesign On-Line Some graphic organizers with reasons for using.

How to Teach a Novel: The Blog

Since some of this blog's readers are upper elementary and middle school teachers (special shout out to my homeschoolers), I thought you'd like to know that I've launched a new blog over at Wordpress.

How to Teach a Novel is aimed at teachers in grades 3-12 who use authentic literature in the classroom. This blog will attempt to bring you related web sites, effective and efficient practices, and current and relevant articles related to the art and science of teaching the novel.

You might first want to check out my older, static site over at Squidoo which bears the same name. The How to Teach a Novel "lens" (Squidoo's unique name for personal sites) presents a step-by-step approach for the teacher who holds a novel in hand but lacks the resources to teach it. It's the online companion to a popular workshop I've presented several times over the past couple years. (As for the presumptuous titles? They make it easier to find the sites when searching Google).

I'm a longtime fan of novels, I love teaching them, and I feel that there's a right and a wrong way to go about it. I'd love to hear about your experiences as well. Drop me a line and share your favorite sites and books, best practices, and your success and horror stories. We're in this thing together!

An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Victor Hugo once said something to the effect of, "An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come." Teachers are constantly torn between embracing new technologies, which come fast and furiously, and clinging to their traditional methods.

Back in the olden days of 1990 I presented a group project for my Masters in Instruction and Curriculum. Our lesson plan included the use of the Green Acres theme song as an anticipatory set to a unit on rural versus urban lifestyles. The professor was satisfied with the project overall but asked, "Keith, how would the average teacher be able to get the opening song for Green Acres?"

I had stayed up until 1:00 AM and copied it (most likely illegally) from an old rerun, but I answered, "In a couple years they should be able to get it from an electronic library. You know, sign out television shows the same way that people sign out books." (I wasn't being prophetic; I had probably read somewhere that such a capability was just over the horizon). The professor laughed, as did a couple students in the audience, so I added, "Or they can stay up until one in the morning to copy it off an old rerun."

The fact is, many teachers now drown in the tidal wave of new technology. That's why I'm so grateful for sites like Recess Duty, EduTechieGal, and Free Technology for Teachers which give us our tech immersion just one ankle-deep wave at a time. I can handle that.

How about you? Are you feeling overwhelmed? How do you keep up with the latest tech products and applications? What professional development opportunities does your school offer on a regular basis for the average classroom teacher to keep informed about tech advances? Which delivery system has your school or district found most useful in educating teachers in this area? Are there other technology-for-teacher sites that you can recommend? Leave a comment or drop me a line.

Top Ten YouTube Videos for the Classroom

Tara Seale has compiled a nice list of the Top Ten YouTube Videos for the Classroom over at her Enhanced English Teacher blog. If you're a middle or high school English teacher, you'll find some great resources and insights there.

For example, those of you who have had the immense pleasure of attending my Teaching that Sticks workshop or my How to Teach a Novel workshop have heard me mention Joseph Campbell's "Hero Myth." The clip below features a discussion of the Hero Myth as it appears in The Matrix. Christopher Vogler, author of The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writersand Using Myth to Power Your Story takes over where Joseph Campbell left off. This snippet of video serves to set up this topic up for classroom discussion.



Thanks for the list, Tara! Visit her site and give her some suggestions for building it to a Top Twenty!

(Missed my How to Teach a Novel workshop? Visit my How to Teach a Novel lens over at Squidoo.com for an abreviated run-down).

Trackstar: Staking Your Claim on the Internet

In terms of the Internet, Trackstar is old school. Many teachers, however, haven’t had the chance to see it in action. Basically, Trackstar is a collected set of websites framed by a table of contents which is always visible. As each site is selected, the heading above the site viewer changes to include the teacher’s notes about the site being viewed, as well as questions about its content.

Now that I’ve thoroughly confused you, check out a couple examples that make it very clear. Stayin' Alive: How Plants and Animals Adapt to Air Pollution is a well constructed track with clear instructions and a variety of sites. In addition to the frames format of that previous link, you also have the option to see your links and notes in text form.

An example of how this application can be used for professional development purposes can be seen in Teaching Writers Right. Presenters or teachers forming collegial study group will find that this is an efficient way to organize sites and documents for group viewing.

Is Trackstar difficult to use? Not at all, since you don’t need to create your own tracks; you’re welcome to use the hundreds that have been created over the years. The homepage allows you to search by topic, author, or top tracks. Just be sure to check that all links are still working, and that the related heading content and questions are appropriate for your student group.

If you do wish to create your own, the process is simple, with ample prompts and sequenced steps.

Using Trackstar, teachers can

• present students with online learning tasks within a controlled scope of sites;


• assign individualized online tasks, differentiated by both web sites viewed and annotations added;


• incorporate current events using the Trackstar’s monthly themes or the Track of the Day;


• create modules that can be independently completed by students as homework or extra credit;


• structure lessons which can easily be carried out by a substitute teacher or a cross-grade learning partner;


• supply parents and students with a “virtual study guide” for upcoming tests;


• store, categorize, and tag their own favorite sites for future use (all sites for one unit can be found in one location;


• share their “best of” sites with virtual colleagues; and


• collaborate with colleagues to compile sites and comments in using a “wiki” format.

The Privileged Status of Story

"I have read that the mind treats stories differently than other types of
information. It seems obvious that people like listening to stories, but it’s
not obvious how to use that in the classroom. Is it really true that stories are
somehow "special" and, if so, how can teachers capitalize on that fact?"

The answer to this question is well worth a read for any teacher desiring to put the power of story into their daily instruction. Cognitive scientist Daniel T. Willingham addresses the topic of story in his excellent article The Privileged Status of Story, one of his many Ask the Cognitive Scientist columns at the AFT's American Educator.

Daniel first defines story using four features commonly agreed upon by professional storytellers (playwrights, screenwriters, and novelists). These features (sometimes called the 4 Cs) are Causality, Conflict, Complications, and Character. Even if a teacher chooses not to tell "stories" in the traditional sense, employing just one of these features can have a profound impact on every lesson, helping to create learning that is interesting, memorable, and easier to comprehend. (Are you hearing some of our sticky ideas?).

Although his role is to point out the theory and research behind the well-deserved status of story, Willingham writes like a practitioner, offering suggestions which are practical and simple to implement. For you fans of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, this article is a concise, highly accessible how-to guide for putting story to work in your instruction.