Kate+Lyons


 * 2009 Cybercamp Project Proposal

BIG Question: Since I'm teaching a new curriculum (yet again!) this year--6th grade social studies, starting with geography--how can I build in technology, tools, hooks, and interactivity from the start to engage today's kids in some of today's AWESOME educational possibilities?  I taught 6th-8th grades (but mostly 6th) at Twin Peaks Charter Academy for 7 years, before joining the staff at Coal Ridge Middle School in 2006. I went from teaching 65-70 students a day at the charter school to about 230 kids every two days at Coal Ridge, and from language arts to writing lab. After two years of writing lab, that job went away (remember the 85 jobs that disappeared?), I was fortunate to be able to document highly-qualified status in social studies, where my school did have an open position. This was a great opportunity for me to become the social studies teacher I had discovered I really was, in the subject area I'd had more fun teaching than all the previous years and subjects combined. (Ironically, this was the subject I had taught the least...9 years of math, 7 years of language arts, two years of science, and only 1 of social studies. But since NCLB kicked in, I am not considered "highly-qualified" to teach either math or science now, just language arts and social studies.) Long story short: when one teaches 3-4 times as many kids a day as one is used to, in ever-changing content areas, things MUST change, and change fast.
 * Why I came to Cybercamp:** ** 

Then this past year was tough, too. I had 6 honors classes (although not all my students were honors--go figure!), and two grades. I had 180+ students each day, teaching out of a total of four "new-to-me" texts during the year with 3 classes of 7th graders alternating with 3 classes of 8th. And since one of those textbooks had no teacher's manual (just the same book as the kids had), it was all I could do to keep up with what my kids were doing each day. Plus our school dropped a daily team plan time so we didn't have to cut positions (lucky for me, but hard on everyone). I also wanted to increase how much and how well my students write (vestiges of teaching writing for two years) in a short constructed response format (my school's CSAP "Achilles heel" in recent years). I hope that writing focus shows up this year, too.

Of course, it would have been great to do either 7th grade World History or 8th grade U.S. History again this year, and do a better job, even with far more differentiating compared to last year. But that would be easy...and teachers don't get to do easy.

That leads me to this year, when I'll have 5 classes a day of untracked students--from unsatisfactory CSAP and SPED kids to honors kids, probably in every class. How can I engage all of them on a regular basis? I'm tired of fighting just to keep their attention and manage their behavior. This year seemed like the perfect time for me to acquire some new tools for my toolbox. I'd much rather spend my time in and out of class doing, seeing, learning, and helping kids discover cool stuff than calling their parents and writing them up. I don't want to spend my last 10-ish years of teaching counting the days until retirement. I want learning to be more FUN, both for the students and for me! So here I am, after 13 years of teaching 3rd, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, feeling like I'm a new teacher all over again. I guess some things never change. 

 **Description of Project:**  Here are the most important things I want to accomplish/improve this year.   **Technology Goals ** 
 * 1) Integrate vocabulary notes in a small-group environment, sharing and discussing definitions, and posting "best definitions" on the class wiki so struggling students can find new/other ways to make sense of what geography is all about. I also hope this will provide an authentic audience and more motivation for kids to actually do their own work and "get published" because they came up with the best definition.
 * 2) Encourage (maybe require?) kids to use blogging to discuss current events topics, questions they want to research for their quarterly presentations, and talk about how that research is going. Then maybe once a week we can have a class discussion about some of these topics, and try some problem-solving/brainstorming/idea sharing, etc.
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Continue last year's innovation of journaling with peer feedback, and then incorporating those journal questions into the chapter/unit tests so kids can practice writing to a prompt they've already seen and for which they've gotten feedback (about the writing itself as well as the correct information to include in the answer). This worked well last year, but I need to do it more consistently, so it will have more impact and become more automatic. (The kids loved it.) Maybe we can post some of the great journal responses (and possible short-essay test questions) on the class wiki, too, as a sort of study guide. Again, authentic audience and solid motivation.
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Figure out a way (or more than one) to fit current events into the curriculum. Put pins on a virtual map? Have kids mark a US or world map in their notes with events/places/people/cultures we learned about? Have a different student from each group each day spend 2-5 minutes on the internet looking up news, while their teammates work on the daily warm-up? Each class could post on the blog a summary of the “top story” of the week, which would encourage good writing along with analysis, synthesis, investigation, comparison, persuasion, etc.? Give groups or the whole class a few minutes on Fridays to digest/discuss/connect some of the information they’ve found, as it relates to what we’re doing in class? Etc...
 * 5) <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Continue looking for ways to encourage and foster greater inquiry with students' quarterly presentations, including helping students learn and use new ways to share their learning with their classmates, beyond the standard poster or PowerPoint presentation. How about a podcast? Or what if they started a dialogue with experts or students elsewhere, and shared that dialogue with the class? Or maybe create a webpage and show other students how to use, navigate, and learn from their page? And other ideas I haven't come up with yet, but they probably will...
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Become proficient enough at wikis and blogs to use them effectively myself, and show my students how to use them, too
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Learn how to use/do podcasting, and then USE it!
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Learn how to integrate digital and analog information and tools more effectively and confidently
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Be open to letting/encouraging students help me with the management of some of these tech tools, as well as encouraging their input with sources, questions, and new ways of learning about their world
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Keep up with the virtual classroom page, wiki, and blog **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">all year long **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">!
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Look for ways students can make their presentations more challenging, real-world, problem-solving, and engaging for both themselves and their classmates
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Complete my asset map (yes, I have actually repented of my hubris about this, and started working on it!)

**<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Half a Million" ideas for Geography Projects **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Landscaping/environmental concerns for own property, park, neighborhood, city hall, rec center, school, etc.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crime/neighborhood dynamics/safety/streets/lighting/public water fountains and restrooms
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Community resources such as recreational facilities, esthetics, scenery, street naming, school facilities, etc.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Improving my own space/room/house/resources/study options/scheduling
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pet concerns/poop scooping/dog parks/animal licensing/pit bulls/wild animals
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Landfills/recycling/groundwater/water rights/water conservation/pollution
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">City/county/community growth/vendors/new businesses/city planning
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Carbon footprint of my family/neighborhood/school/city/county/state, etc.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">City council/mayor's office/county commissioners meeting/PTO/school leadership team/student council
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Minority communities' needs/underprivileged kids/welfare concerns/second-language learners/Anglo-Hispanic-Asian social issues
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unemployment/underemployment/job training/immigration/education/scholarship and funding options
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Skate parks, graffiti walls, public forums, gathering places, kids' entertainment options, etc.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Colorado history, local history, topographical mapping, local experts/celebrities, etc.

**<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thoughts/Ideas on Cybercamp/RPBL **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Here are some ideas I collected/hatched from reading //<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reinventing Project-Based Learning //<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and/or Cybercamp.

__**<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Google Earth **__<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> COOL! I downloaded this onto my home computer Tuesday night, and then of course had to play with it. Checked out what a few places I've been to see what they look like from the satellite; played with scrolling around, spinning the world, north vs. south, ground level, what it looks like below the surface of the Atlantic, etc. I found my neighborhood, and then my house! Some questions occurred to me to use with students if the district adds Google Earth to our toolbox this year: <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mapmaking skills Students need to learn/understand/demonstrate mapmaking skills. Since this year I’ll have 6th graders, I’ll probably start with a map of my classroom/hallway/school, and then have students create a map of their trips from home to school. I see this activity leading to discussions about the components of maps: compass rose, orientation, resolution, distortion, projection, scale, latitude and longitude, legend, title, labeling, key, etc. in much greater detail. I hope that this approach would provide both the necessary framework for a study of map-making tools, and opportunities for inquiry that I try to incorporate in my classroom.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">How does this program work?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">During what season were these images taken?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">What can you tell about my neighborhood/house from the images?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">What can’t you tell about my neighborhood/house from the images?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why can’t you see my front door on the satellite image?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">How might a mapmaker use this technology?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">What do the little changing numbers at the bottom of the picture mean?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">What do those numbers tell us?

After we have explored the geographer’s tools and vocabulary (including having groups of kids just examine lots of different maps—thanks, National Geographic!), it would be time for students to revisit their maps from home to school. The second map would be the summative assessment (making the first one a formative one), and these two pieces of work would make a great addition to the students’ 1st quarter portfolios for our student-led conferences in late September/early October. **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">

**<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vocabulary Strategies In the past, I’ve used the following 4-column vocabulary template: **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 1st column: write the word and book/page number where the word occurred 2nd column: definition of the word 3rd column: symbol/illustration of the word 4th column: student definition, example, or explanation in his/her own words This year I want students to use one of their composition notebooks for vocabulary, so they would use the template to keep a record of all the vocabulary we do over the course of the year (for the 1st semester and end-of-year’s final exams). Then students would work in groups to look over each other’s vocab work each week, and decide what illustration and definition the group thinks is most meaningful to them. About once a week, a member of each group would update their group’s addition to the 6th grade wiki, and other classes would have access to all definitions. With an authentic audience and an element of competition and creativity, this might improve student involvement and homework completion percentages. I hope it would also result in better/clearer/more useful definitions, with students actually processing the word and its meaning, and then creating their own meaning (as opposed to just copying definitions from the book, and still not knowing what the word means.)

**<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">5 Themes of Geography I didn’t like the acronym that my colleagues use for the 5 themes in the book, so I made up my own: **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">L **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">ong’s **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> P **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">eak **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> H **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">as **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> M **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">any **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> R **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">ocks. **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">L: LOCATION **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (absolute, relative, latitude/longitude, cardinal directions, etc.) **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">P: PLACE **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (physical and human features) **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">H: HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (physical characteristics, how humans affect and are affected by their environment) **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">M: MOVEMENT **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (how people, ideas, and goods get from one place to another) **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">R: REGIONS **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (unifying characteristics of a place, often used for comparison) I will think about maybe tying the current events (and each quarter’s project) to one or more of these themes, including having students pick 1-2 themes for each, as a way to categorize and link the information they’re learning. By the end of the year, they would have focused on each theme at least once in their presentations.

__**<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">1st Day of School Survey **__<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Maybe for the first day of school (which has SO MUCH of talking and rules in every class, and it’s also our “Back to School” Night--?!?), maybe I’ll break the mold and let them just do a survey. Where have you traveled? How often do you go someplace? What do you like about the trip? What don’t you like about it? Do they speak another language there? Do you speak it? How do you get there? Where do you stay? What do you do? Do you want to go back? Why? Where would you like to go? Why? Etc. Radical, I know. But I think I’m gonna do it.

**<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Current Events I think I want kids to check links to different news sources. (I had always thought of just using newspapers, but now I can see that as very limiting. Maybe we could start with Colorado On-line Newspapers?) Maybe put them in current events teams, and have one kid “surf” a link or two for 5 minutes at the beginning of class (maybe letting them “skip” the opener? I’ll have to think about that) each day, and then give groups a few minutes on Fridays to digest/discuss/connect some of the information they’ve found to what we’re doing in class. Then each class could post on the blog a summary of the “top story” of the week, which would encourage analysis, synthesis, investigation, comparison, persuasion, etc. It seems like that would be very engaging and empowering. Maybe students would even need to choose their project topics based on the connections we make with current events? **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">