Presentation to Cohort XV, Seton Hall University, Technology Class, Ed.D. Program
transcript
Technology tutorsUsing technology to transform the pre-writing
experience.
OBJECTIVES: EXPOSE STUDENTS AND TUTORS TO NEW WAYS OF
BRAINSTORMING BEFORE WRITING (IMINDMAP) CHANGE DYNAMIC OF
STUDENT-TO-TEACHER AS THE ONLY WAY OF EVALUATING WRITING PRODUCTS
(CREATE WEEBLY WEBSITE TO PUBLISH STUDENT WORK) CHANGE
TUTOR-TO-TUTOR RELATIONSHIPS (USE GOOGLE PLUS CIRCLES TO ENHANCE
COMMUNICATION) CHANGE TUTOR-TO-DIRECTOR RELATIONSHIPS (CREATE
OPPORTUNITIES FOR TUTORS TO LEARN FROM EACH OTHER, RATHER THAN
REACHING OUT TO ME) EXPAND STUDENT DESIRE TO WRITE AND IMPROVE
QUALITY OF WORK BY PUBLISHING WRITING SAMPLES ONLINE AND HAVING
OTHERS COMMENT ON THEIR WORK THROUGH BLOGS (WEEBLY BLOGGING)
WRITING PROCESS Pre-writing, Putting Ideas into Sentences
andParagraphs, Editing, Sha
Pre-Writing Thinking of what to say (word retrieval) Organizing
random ideas into sentences and paragraphs (syntax and organization
of thoughts) Adding and deleting details as you move forward
Thinking about the goals of the writing assignment Imindmapping
helps with all of these steps
Changing Relationships:Tutors to Me/Tutors to Tutors
Oh my, the hardware issues!! Tutors became obsessed with the
difficulty in getting their computers to cooperate. The PC people
blamed the Apple people and vice- versa. We worked on adapting new
programs to both formats. Eventually they calmed downbut it took
weeks!
Tony Buzan on MindmappingClick here if you have trouble viewing
this video!
Imindmaps fromwww.thinkbuzan.com
Finding out that the Kids Were Better At Imindmapping than the
Teachers Very intimidating for the teachers Teachers were ready to
drop it even though the kids liked it Eventually, they persisted,
and now they want to use it with lots of kids and have recommended
it to the other tutors.
Then Came Weebly.. The kids were so excited to post online The
tutors werent..They felt that it was too complicated They did it
anyway (I can be very convincing) Now they want to do the blogging
on Weebly http://www.franspot.weebly.com
Weebly Homepage
Blog, blog, blog Comment on Bens mindmap 04/22/2012 2 Comments
My Dream Vacation My Dream Vacation would be for four weeks during
March so I can get out of school for those weeks. I choose Megan,
my favorite babysitter, and my friend, Jonathan to go with me. We
would leave from BWI and fly into L.A. where we will rent an
Escalade. We will visit Disneyland, Universal Studios and
relatives. For the last two weeks we will drive to San Francisco. I
will visit more relatives there and visit the steepest, winding
road there. I will have to think up more things to do because four
weeks is a long time. I will plan more of the trip before we go.
Comments alissa sheinbach 04/24/2012 10:06am Wow, there was so much
information in that map! I really like how he used pictures on the
map too. Great topic! Alissa Reply elaine gittlen 04/25/2012 7:16am
Fantastic mindmap!! Id like to learn how you got the pictures on
it. elaine Reply
Alissa, (One of our Tutors) on Blogging (Google + Comment)
alissa sheinbach Apr 23, 2012 - Limited I think the blog idea is
especially great for tutoring because in a classroom, students can
at least share writing with classmates, but one-on-one there is no
one else to get feedback from except the tutor. Now kids have to
think about their audience in an authentic way. They also will have
to think about proofreading and clarity knowing that someone not in
room will read it, and they will not be able to explain anything.
The writing will have to stand on its own.
A New Tutors Comment Zachary Ferentz 04/22/2012 1:34pm Im a
tutor at the University of Maryland ASCDU, and I think its a
fantastic idea for students to post their work online. It allows
them to receive positive feedback from people all over the world,
and it promotes and strengthens their creativity. I will definitely
encourage my students to share their work online. Well done!
Ben makes an imindmap and writes a paragraph that gets posted
on franspot.weebly.com
Parents and Friends Going Online to See Student Work Students
are very excited to do next piece Students want feedback not only
from teacher Changing the balance of power between tutor and
student Tutors want to now create new websites for different
purposes
PARADIGM SHIFT Students sharing with their parents Students
sharing with their teachers Students sharing with their friends
Students starting to blog on Weebly Students sharing with
students
Our work with students is changing. To understand more about
what we do at bowman educational services, inc., MultiFlex
Tutoring, please feel free to visit our main website at:
www.bowmaneducationalservices.com
NEXT STEPS 1. TRY OTHER BRAINSTORMING TOOLS FOR WRITING 2.
EXPAND WEEBLY WEBSITE TO INCREASE AWARENESS OF STUDENT WORK 3.
INVOLVE MORE TUTORS IN THIS PROJECT IN OUR 5 OFFICES SO THAT THEY
CAN COMMUNICATE AND SHARE WITH EACH OTHER IN NEW GOOGLE PLUS
CIRCLES. 4. TRY TO USE THESE TOOLS WITH PARENTS SO THEY CAN HELP
THEIR KIDS MORE AT HOME 5. BUILD BLOGGING COMPONENT SO THAT
STUDENTS (NOT JUST PARENTS AND TEACHERS) ARE COMMENTING ON EACH
OTHERS WORK 6. CREATE AN EVALUATION TOOL TO MEASURE THE
EFFECTIVENESS OF EACH PRE-WRITING PROGRAM.
WHAT STRUCTURES OF LEARNING CHANGED FROM THE TRADITIONAL MODE?
WRITING BECAME A PUBLIC EVENT TO BE APPRECIATED BY A WIDER,
INTERESTED AUDIENCE DYSGRAPHIC STUDENTS WERE EXCITED AND MOTIVATED
TO DO THEIR MINDMAPS AND TO PRODUCE WRITTEN WORK TEACHERS FOUND IT
EASIER TO INTRODUCE WRITING ACTIVITIES AND HAD A DIFFERENT LEVEL OF
INVESTMENT IN THE PRODUCT BECAUSE THE WORK WAS PUBLICIZED
WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENTLY? RE-EVALUATED TIME-BASED ISSUES I
WOULD HAVE MADE SURE THAT THE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE WERE WORKING
PROPERLY BEFORE INVOLVING THE TUTORS--- A GREAT DEAL OF TIME WAS
WASTED ON UNIMPORTANT ISSUES I WOULD HAVE INCLUDED THE PARENTS
EARLIER IN THE PROCESS---THEY WERE CATALYSTS AND REALLY WANTED
THEIR KIDS TO IMPROVE THEIR CYBERSKILLS
We are still very green (not inthe environmental sense, butin
the what are we doing?sense). Hope springs eternal.