Misty Blue

Greeting

Summer 2008 has been a busy summer.  PLWP Writing Retreat held at the Conception Abbey just one mile from where I live gives me the opportunity to meet-and-greet participants along with taking photos for the PLWP web site.  See http://plwp.wetpaint.com/page/PLWP+2008+Writing+Retreat for more information about the retreat.  In June 2008 I presented two workshops with topics of using technology to enhance student writing.  These two workshops were worth one hour of graduate credit each.  I developed the blog http://writingwithtechnology.edublogs.orgto develop paperless classes.  The first class Digital Images: Impact on Student Learning found the blog helpful.  In this class we looked at how images can help students add detail to their writing. See hank-englisheducation.blogspot.com to get more ideas on using photos as writing prompts.  Hank Kellner has a book out in Jan. 2009 called Write What You See. This should be a great resource because so many NWP teachers have suggestions in this book. None of the participants printed out the handouts available there.  Many of these teachers felt they could go to the blog anytime in the future to access the  information.  They told me they wouldn’t have to keep track of the handouts and try to find them when they were ready to use them with their classes.  The second workshop was titled Power of PowerPoint: Not Just Another Presentation.  We explored using PowerPoint for everything but presentations.  See http://www.sr2.k12.mo.us/swalker/Journal%20prompts%2008-09%201st%20quarter_files/frame.htm for some of Mrs. Walker’s 2008 writing journal prompts. She said that being able to post these on her web page would give student who were absent the opportunity to keep up with the prompts.  July found me at the SI. Since we have a photographer of the day I only go make the 80 mile trip about twice a week.  I spend the other days reading the writings and posts on the sites webboard.  July 31 and Aug 1 eight PLWP TCs traveled to Columbia, MO to participate in the Missouri Writing Project Network retreat.   Mary

Jan. 29 Comment on articles

Greeting–Writing with Technology class:  At the teach-nology.com site I looked at several articles about PowerPoint.  A couple of items caught my attention: One-look back and ask yourself: “Is this making me a better teacher?”  I would add–”Is this good for my students?”  If not don’t do it.  Two:  I would have to say the line about tech problems is a given.  Always have a back-up plan!!!! Three:  Overuse can bore the learners.  This is true.  Use occassionally.  As we look at PowerPoint as a publishing of written pieces tool it still could be over used.  As a publishing tool you have to option of sharing the piece with many people.  I found when students knew a grandparent, aunt, the school secretary would view their work they were more particular about the work.

In the article about Professor Lee I agree with much of what he said, but I feel sometimes a good PowerPoint can be helpful.  I too have a couple of “drive me nuts” about PowerPoint.  They are the same as his, but I would add that graphics, sound, and animation should enhance the presentation not distract from it.  Sound used sparingly is very effective.  I had a student do a presentation on snakes.  The only sound in the 10 slide PowerPoint was a sound file of a rattle snake on the slide telling about the rattle snake.  That was very effective. There is a 7 X 7 rule in PowerPoint-no more than seven words per line and no more than seven lines per slide.  This is if the presentation is being used as an information providing tool.   I too found myslef drewing on the board while presenting information to a class.  If a PowerPoint presentation is presented using an interactive whiteboard then the presenter has the option of drawing on the slide.

PowerPoint as well as Moviemaker or iMovie can be used as a digital storytelling presentation tool.  Take a look at this site sometime when you have time.  Think of what this would mean for a social science teacher.

http://scottsfloyd.edublogs.org/2008/01/24/kenya-escape-through-digital-storytelling/

Since the blizzard conditions in North Missouri is keeping me at home.  Webboard chat is being mean to me I will just communicate with you through my blog.     Mary Lee

Literacy Academy at PLWP

Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Regional Professional Development sites and the Missouri Writing Project Network are working together to provide middle school teachers with strategies for teaching writing. The purpose is to increase state standardized scores.

Missouri Writing Project Network

Missouri Writing Project Network (MWPN) held its annual retreat in Columbia, MO in early August. How do we help students become better readers as well as writers? National Writing Projects focus of Teachers Teaching Teachers is what helped MWPN to be well on its way when the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education ask for help to provide teacher in-services that focused on improving student reading and writing. This group of Missouri Writing Project directors and teacher consultants has been meeting for several years to discuss the State of the State challenges in reading and writing.

Century Farm Presentatioin

Mrs. Luke’s third grade at Stanberry R-II read a personal narrative about a century farm.  Century Farm One Hundred Years on A Family Farm by Chris Peterson.  Mrs. Luke ask me to come speak to her class about growing up on a century farm.  I also live with my husband on his families century farm. Our daughter currently lives on my families century farm.   Being a NWP teacher consultant I could not do this presenation without talking about writing and having the students do a writing piece.  Below is the class poem that the students wrote.

FARM

Friends do stuff together.

Apples fall from the tree.

Red combines harvest corn, soybeans, and wheat.

Marigolds grow in pastures.

Digital Storytelling and Network Literacy

Photo journal from the PLWP Advanced Tech Institute.  Double click to see  an enlarged version of this picture.   Photos by Stacey and Mary Lee Meyer, PLWP TCs.

Thank You

Wow.  I am glad edublogs is up and running again.    Some of the group have been frantic to post their found poems to their blogs.  Mine is still in the draft stage as I wrote one using the evaluations from the institute.  I hope to get it up shortly.  Mary

Real Name poem

In the open air my name is Sizzling Pink Frosting.

Pink Frosting skips through the mystical morning light. 

Fads fast, the sun melts the excitment of the day. 

Lakeshore meandering at sunset my name will be Misty Blue.

Mary

June 14

Four days of intense work for 14 teachers is over, but those teachers have the means to stay connected through their blogs that were created using names from a writing assignment to create a real name poem.  The last day was show and tell.  Each participant was part of a group who investigated one of the following: Podcast and audio software, Use of computer software to create graphic novels/comic strips, many uses and online software associated with interactive whiteboards, and finally use of iMovie and how it differed from Moviemaker.  Each group was given a list of sites that they could use as resources, evaluate and add too.  They were to come up with a list of suggestions for classroom uses and examples of the product if appropriate.  Missouri Western State University is mostly all PC.  Most schools are equipped with PCs.  St. Jospeh school district elementary schools are Mac platform.  The teachers from those schools were to investigate iMovie, write a short tutorial for the iMovie software and show examples.  Each group presented their findings on the last day.  A couple of the groups posted their findings on one of their group members blog.  We laughed and we cried through some of the movies that were produced by the class members. I want to get permission to post at least a sampling of those.  There were some who were not happy with the timing etc of their movie, but we found we even saw something in the mistakes that we liked. One members timing lacked pictures for the last few seconds of her movie.  Her piece was a very touching piece about mothers and we noted we focused in on her voice and what she was saying when there was no picture.  Evaluations indicated that everyone got something or many things they could take back to their classroom next Fall.

June 13 Michele

Michele presented triadic writing using her own piece she did in SI06 with PLWP.  This is a very moving piece.  This lady is a very talented writer.  She then walked the participants through starting a rough draft of a triadic writing by giving them the choice of two prompts–Write all the lyrics to either You Are My Sunshine or Itis Bitis Spider.  Next write all the facts about either the sun or spiders which ever song you chose.  Now write your own observations or memories, reflections of either topic.  This is the beginning of a triadic piece.