Language Arts 2.0 Workshop: Day Two

Obviously everyone takes different things away from a workshop. (I was partially distracted by the tech department coming to get me periodically most of the morning to work on a server problem... so my tech director job was overshadowing my teacher job for some of the day... so bear with me if missed anything.) If anyone is reading this post and thinks I left something out, please post your ideas of what was a highlight for you... but the highlights of the day for me were:

• Elissa Martin, teacher at Callaway High School, said her passion is to try to “breathe belief into her students.” This phrase should trigger everyone to be a better teacher. Now I can’t take credit for her being such a positive person, her parents and God get credit for that! But I can proudly say that she was one of my students my first year teaching 15 years ago. She was an extraordinary student then, and according to my son who will have her as a teacher this fall, she is an extraordinary teacher. I wish her luck with my son, and I know that he will learn a lot from her, he will get a lot of positive feedback, and he will benefit from her enthusiasm and intelligence.
• One of the participants in our class today talked about “ironic inconsistencies in people” and this peaked by attention. An example was her sister who is vegetarian trying to get in touch with the global cause, but when she came for Christmas last year, her sister was wearing a mink coat! Now I seem to be on the lookout for these inconsistencies...
  
• I have been trying to find a new way to teach headline and caption writing in my journalism class and today I have found a new way. The instructors introduced picasa web albums where you can upload pictures to share with the public. I don’t necessarily want to share this with the public but I do want to share with my students in my journalism class. I m wanting to change from traditional to technology. Instead of holding up pictures I have found in the newspapers and magazines and then walking around the room telling them to write a caption or headline. Now I can post better pictures, and more current pictures, to picasa and then they each comment on the picture. Then we can discuss what parts of each caption or headline are the best and talk about how to improve their skills. Finally a fun solution to an old problem. http://picasaweb.google.com/nbadgley/JournalismHeadlinesAndCaptionPhotos#5348314914502641474 there are no examples here yet, but check back this fall. I just wanted to get it ready while I was here working.
• I am most excited about teaching creative writing this fall. The idea of “your three words” is really intriguing for word choice and making each word meaningful. When someone writes something creatively, they tend to get very attached to what they wrote. This might be because it was like pulling teeth to get it written and finished when they didn’t’ want to do it; or it could be because it has become their baby and they think it is perfect. However, right before a lesson in revision, you can talk about what can be said in just three words. Show the examples of how powerful, heartwrenching, funny, angering, and intriguing those 3 well-chosen words can be. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Your3Words/ (Another twist on this idea brought up by a teacher in attendance were 6 word memoirs which would be a really nice change for students after a long writing assignment or the research paper unit. I also think it would be fun to have kids tweet - 140 characters - to summarize something for feedback or reflection. That would really challenge them!)
• Creative writing: word movies from their own writing, either in keynote or powerpoint (by making the words come on the screen and then disappear or swing) or animoto (which makes still pictures move with pictures)? I was actually inspired by a video I found on the apple web site that begins with the words "think big" and the words move and continue telling a message. I think it might have been created in LiveType, but I am not sure, but I have downloaded it to show to my students. Sorry I lost the link...
  

Thanks again to Deanna Stall and Jason Everett for their time and effort putting this day together. They receive all the credit!