How Fake Facebook Profiles Support Reading Instruction and More!

Teaching author's perspective, author's purpose, tone and mood, characterization and other literary elements are some of the most difficult reading skills for students to untangle. Because of time constraints, teachers often ignore discussing an author's life experiences as part of front-loading a text to be read. I have always been a proponent of less is more, so I make the time to let kids learn aboout a writer's life before we read his/her book, and we research the historical period in which the book was written. Both the author's life experiences and the historical period provide an invaluable insight that helps readers understand themes, allusions, plot events, characterizations, conflicts and other literary elements. Of course, now more than ever technology can facilitate teaching all of these reading concepts.

Using myfakewall.com, students can create a fake profile page `a la Facebook to explore the life of an author, a character, a historical figure, an idea, a process, an animal or anything students would like to personify. 

Using Myfakewall to teach Author's Purpose
Teachers can assign students to create Myfakewall.com profiles and posts that reveal the author's purpose, i.e., why the author wrote a piece: to entertain, inform or teach, persuade or convince. Students can add "friends" such as other writers or people who influenced the writer to write a particular piece, or even characters, and have those influential "friends" post questions or comments on the writer's wall so the posts and the writer's responses to the posts reveal the author's purpose for writing.

Using Myfakewall to teach Author's Perspective
The concept of author's perspective can also be taught in the same manner by having students write posts revealing the writer's feelings or beliefs and how these views prompted the writer to create a particular piece of writing.  High order skills are at work because students apply what they learned after reading a biography or autobiography about the author's life. To write thought-provoking posts and comments on the Myfakewall.com page, students must analyze and evaluate the author's life circumstances, choices, and beliefs and synthesize a post using texutal examples to reveal how and why an author incorporated his/her life views in his/her writing.    

Using Myfakewall to teach Characterization, Historical Events, Tone and Mood, Connotation and more

• Of course, Myfakewalls do not have to be just about a writer's life. Students can create fakewalls about characters to learn characterization. Posts could feature the characterization strategy S.T.E.A.L., which focuses on analyzing a character's Speech, Thoughts, Effect on Others, Actions and Looks. 
• Other fakewalls to challenge students to use critical thinking skills and textual support would be profiles for historical figures with posts that explore a famous or infamous decision, its repercussions, and the historical figure's controversial thoughts and conversations with his/her associates, friends or family.  Imagine how primary and secondary sources could also be used to incorporate textual support on all of these pseudo profile pages.
• As difficult as it is for students to identify the tone and mood of a piece, myfakewall.com can support teaching this concept if students are asked to create a profile using particular textual examples that reflect a specific negative or positive tone while comments could show reader's positive or negative mood after reading these text examples. Myfakewall.com could even be used to reinforce connotation if students create fake posts using negative connotations sharing them with fake users to see the effect words have on other readers and writers.  

Myfakewall.com supports so many different critical thinking activities that allow students to step inside the mind of notable figures, use textual examples, primary and secondary sources, and their own creativity.

Whether students create fake pages that are serious or funny, they will be engaged in creating original content.

I would love to see what Myfakewall.com profiles students could create to explore the minds and lives of scientists, mathematicians, artists, and other noteworthy individuals or ideas. 

Please check out these Myfakewall page profiles!

Lists 3 and 4-Tech Terms All Teachers Should Know!

How many tech terms did you know by heart from List One and Two? Test your "Tech Jargon" with Lists Three and Four, and share the lists with those teachers who want to improve their tech knowledge!
Once again, I used wordstash.com to create List Three and Four to maintain consistency with the way the lists look and can be accessed.  What vocabulary tech tools do you know about? Let's chat to compare teaching experiences with these tools.

Click on the link to see List Three and Four or email or tweet me at fearlesstech4teachers@gmail.com, and @trendingteacher, and I'll send you lists directly.

http://wordstash.com/lists/37832-tech-terms-every-teacher-should-know-list-three-and-four

Wordle Lists Three and Four

List 2-Tech Terms All Teachers Should Know

Are you ready for List Two of Tech Terms All Teachers Should Know? Well, ready or not here it is! Quiz is forthcoming!

My next post will feature one more tech tool that supports vocabulary instruction. I have used wordstash.com again to create List Two to maintain consistency with the way the lists look and can be accessed, but this other tech tool I'll be writing about, Lexipedia, has some pretty neat features as well.

I would love to hear from anyone who has used different vocabulary tech tools to compare teaching experiences with these tools.

Click on the link to see List Two or email or tweet me at fearlesstech4teachers@gmail.com, and @trendingteacher, and I'll send you lists directly.

http://wordstash.com/lists/37497-tech-terms-every-teacher-should-know-list-two

Wordle of List 2:Tech Terms All Teachers Should Know

Do You Speak-a My Language? Tech Terms All Teachers Should Know-List One Using Wordstash & Wordle

In my last post I used the word “friended”.  After posting it, I thought what if some readers think I’ve made a huge grammatical blunder using “friend” as a verb. But then I thought, my readers don’t live under a rock. They must have heard this new techie vernacular. Which got me to thinking there’s so much tech talk out there, it’s difficult to keep up with it all.

So I decided why not create a sort of tech vocabulary for dummies. Well, not for dummies...you know what I mean...but for those of who aren’t afraid to use tech, but don’t always know what all the terms mean...we kind of smile and nod around the "super techies" pretending we know. 

Here are three posts in one! First, I’ve used http://wordstash.com to create a Tech Vocabulary List of “Tech Terms All Teachers Should Know”. Wordstash.com’s features make learning vocabulary incredibly efficient! You create a list of words adding them one at a time. Wordstash.com gives you the part of speech and definition. Some of the newer tech terms did not have a definition so I had to add it myself. But that’s the beauty of word stash, you can add your own definition if you want, and add an image from Wikipedia or Flicker for a visual cue. Wordstash.com saves all the words entered to generate a list that you name. You revisit your lists to study by using wordstash.com’s quizzes and games, and mark the words you’ve mastered, and the ones where you need extra practice.  

Wordstash.com let’s you say: “Adios flashcards!” 

Wordle.net, on the other hand, let’s you add lists of words and creates a beautiful word cloud. You decide the layout of the words by choosing the font and color. Check out the wordle.net I created for “Tech Terms All Teachers Should Know”.  Wordle.net can be used as a digital word wall, a visual reminder of words studied, and a reminder of how to spell the words.
                                                             Wordle.net let’s you say: 

“Good riddance word wall bulletin boards that take time and money to design!”  

This will be List One of “Tech Terms All Teachers Should Know”, and I will add more tech terms using other tech tools so we can continue to build our tech vocabulary and learn about other tech tools that support vocabulary instruction.  
Wordstash.com allows sharing of wordlists through Facebook, Twitter, Stumbleupon and De.li.cio.us or email. If you are unable to open the link, email me at fearlesstech4teachers@gmail.com so I can email you the list! Or, follow me on Twitter or Facebook, and I'll tweet or Facebook the list!  Check out List one!  http://wordstash.com/lists/36907-tech-terms-every-teacher-should-know

Adios, Au Revoir, Auf Wiedersehen to Analog!

Now no offense to Lawrence Welk. I have fond childhood memories of watching the show on our analog TV with my grandfather. I remember the bubbles while the big band played, the pretty singers in the flowing pastel dresses, the young female Mexican singer, and the African-American tap dancer.  When I think of it now, Welk was ahead of the game in terms of multiculturalism. He featured minorities as regulars on his show when most shows in the 60s were not. Maybe that was one of the many reasons Welk's show became a hit with American audiences. He was progressive! However, that was in the 50s and 60s!  Some people reading this blog may not even know who Lawrence Welk was, which serves as a case in point.  When it comes to teaching and learning, many schools are still operating in the Lawrence Welk era...students are still being required to sit in quiet rows; answering questions at the end of a textbook; forbidden to speak to each other, or even to the teacher for that matter; forbidden to ask questions; bored to tears listening to monotone lectures; copying notes from poorly lit overhead projectors; forced to answer multiple choice questions, and fill in the blanks on worksheet after worksheet, and punished to write lines, or behavior modification essays at the slightest sign of dissension. The Lawrence Welk era came and went. It served its purpose for our needs then, and maybe it didn't because we didn't know better. But when we realized there was something better, we embraced change. When we discovered that there were "Moves Like Jagger", and our needs were no longer being met, we created and searched for ways to do better. We progressed. Our lifestyles and perspectives evolved; we said "adios" and good riddance to so many aspects of society that the Welk Show represented, and we embraced something different: we embraced progress.  However, how have we truly progressed inside our classrooms since then? It's human nature there will be those who forever argue life was better in yesteryear, and that teaching and learning of yesteryear was superior to ours. They are not wrong because society then is nothing like society now.  Students then are nothing like students now. However, inside our classrooms, why do we hold on or revert to antiquated methods, turning on Welk and ignoring the rock and roll?  

If we were to visit every American school classroom, public and private, how many schools do you think are still tuning in to Welk rather than Maroon 5? ("Moves Like Jagger" reference full circle here, and another case in point if you're over 40 and have no idea what I'm talking about.)  If you're an educator of children, tweens, teens or young adults, it's essential that our classroom culture and technique is not a relic of the past, but a constant thriving and evolving source of inspiration where the next generation discovers their voice and identity, and is not held hostage by our own.  

As Lawrence Welk and his singers used to say every night:  

"Here's a Wish and a prayer that every dream comes true":  

Be not afraid to use at least one web tool in your classroom per week. Remember you can't break anything by clicking and pointing; the majority of web tools are super user friendly; you won't lose data as long as you remember to save it beforehand. You will save time; you and your students will have fun in the teaching and learning process, and most all, you will engage and challenge students to think so everyone can have "moves like Jagger" and not Welk.  Sorry Mr.Welk! Adios, Au Revoir, Auf Wiedersehen to analog! (P.S. For those under 30, these words were part of Welk's "Good Night" song lyrics.)
      

The Evolution of Vocabulary Instruction: Fotobabble.com

So on Monday, you assign your students 20 vocabulary words; give them a menu of tried and true vocabulary exercises on Tuesday to challenge them to learn and use the words throughout the week; test them on Friday, yet half the students fail the vocabulary test. A month later, most students say they have never heard those words in their entire lives.  Does this routine sound familiar? 


In many ways, how are we still living in the stone age when it comes to vocabulary instruction? How can we evolve our vocabulary instruction to the next level?


What benefits result from assigning long lists of vocabulary words that students have never seen and cannot pronounce? In what ways do we ensure students continue to use the vocabulary they learn in and out of the classroom?

Fotobabble can revolutionize how we teach vocabulary! Students can choose or create an image to show how it represents the meaning of a word; they can use  artwork, photos, original drawings, etc. Students can scan graphic organizers to analyze a word, and record themselves explaining the graphic organizer. The possibilities are endless! 


How do our students benefit from vocabulary worksheets and workbooks?  Are these resources working to help students internalize words if we are only requiring them to fill in blanks to memorize words for a weekly test, and never see, hear or use the words again? 


Kylene Beers, author of When Kids Can’t Read:What Teachers Can Do (http://www.amazon.com/When-Kids-Cant-Read-Teachers/dp/0867095199) shares an interesting teacher experiment proving students feel overwhelmed “learning, using and remembering” long lists of words if they have never seen the words, and never hear their teachers use the words in a meaningful, relevant context. Beers suggests students learn more words when teachers focus on fewer words and model the word for students in everyday classroom speech.

Here’s where www.fotobabble.com comes in:

Fotobabble.com is a site that allows you to upload images and add your voice to an image. 

How can you fearlessly use this web 2.0 tool in your classroom?

Whenever you teach vocabulary, you can use fotobabble so students can upload a visual cue for a vocabulary word and record their voice to:

• define the vocabulary word.
• use the word in context in an original sentence, or paragraph.
• explain multiple examples for the vocabulary word, such as connotation, pronunciation, spelling, part(s) of speech, suffixes, prefixes, roots, synonyms, antonyms.
• use context as a clue revealing the word’s meaning.
• use other words that share the same root, prefix, suffix as the word being studied.
• use the word in different contexts.
• compare and contrast the word to other words to reveal relationships between particular words.
• explain the graphic organizer that analyzes the word.
• share an excerpt from a fiction or non fiction passage where the word is used.
• use the word to create a figure of speech.
• use the word to create an analogy.

These are just a few ways to use Fotobabble, but most importantly use fotobabble so STUDENTS LEARN HOW TO CREATE THEIR OWN CONTENT!
Fotobabble allows teachers and students to create critical thinking activities that include voice and imagery, guaranteed to improve vocabulary skills. When students have the opportunity to create their own content, they are collaborating with peers and experiencing multiple opportunities to see, hear and use vocabulary.  

Research shows students do not make any gains on vocabulary sections of standardized tests because they are not internalizing vocabulary if they never hear the words used again in the classroom. (http://www.reading.org/General/Publications/Books/BK698.aspx) 

Poor readers have poor vocabulary, and longs lists of words kids can't even pronounce and may never see or hear again produce nothing but boredom and frustration! Learning new words should be exciting for students, not a tedious chore!

Please share how you have used Fotobabble to teach vocabulary!

Check out the lesson plan in the lesson plan section, and the Fotobabble tutorial by anamariacult so you can begin to change the way you teach vocabulary. Whatever the subject, or grade level, we all teach vocabulary, and Fotobabble can help our students improve their vocabulary skills!