Students Who Have Been to Juvinile Hall, and Come Back to Public School

There is a major transition for those students who have been sent to juvinile hall, and then are sent back to their public schools, or private. All of a sudden, they have to be strong enough to face their old demons again... and walk away from them. Majority of students who have been sent to juvinile hall were sent because of gang related actitivy. You might be thinking that it is juste high school students that get sent here. Wrong. There are certainly younger adolescents, middle school and elementary. Particulary middle schoolers- because they are in that akward  stage of being more than a little kid, but not an adult. Here is a great article students and juvinile hall.  http://www.kpbs.org/news/2011/feb/15/juvenile-hall-classroom/

Blogs Are Great for ELL/ESL Students Too!

ELL students can also benefit from Blogging! From http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Campbell-Weblogs.html is what I think are the best benefits of Blogging for ELL/ESL students.  The Article is below:

" Three Types of Weblogs for Use in ESL Classrooms

The Tutor Blog

This is a type of weblog that is run by the tutor for the learners. It serves the following purposes:

• It gives daily reading practice to the learners. Sometimes students find assigned reading material too boring, difficult, or hard to relate with. This is because it is often written with another purpose in mind. So who better to write to them than the person who knows them best: the teacher. Entries are kept short, geared towards the learner interest, and linked to related online sources for further reading if desired. Vocabulary used in class can be recycled this way. New vocabulary words can be linked to definitions on other sites found with a search engine. Furthermore, a casual, natural writing style can be used by the tutor to develop learner familiarity with native language patterns.
   
• It promotes exploration of English websites. Any entry made by the tutor can and ought to encourage further exploration of the Internet in English by linking to related articles, and content based websites. For those learners reluctant to step outside the comfort of exploring the Web in their native language, being led to interesting English language sites will increase their confidence and help to overcome their aversion.
   
• It encourages online verbal exchange by use of comment buttons. At the bottom of each entry, any blog reader can make a comment that can be read and further commented on by all who access the site. Ask your students questions, give them riddles, challenge their views; whatever it takes to encourage them to comment.
   
• It provides class or syllabus information. Entries in the blog can also serve to remind students about homework assignments and upcoming discussion topics. Links can be provided to sites that introduce relevant topics of discussion. The tutor can also follow up on difficult areas of classroom work that might need review or clarification. In addition, a permanent link to the classroom syllabus and rules can be included on the blog.
   
• It serves as a resource of links for self-study. In the right and/or left margins of the blog, permanent links can be set-up and organized to aid the learner in self-study, for example links to online quizzes, English news sites, key-pal networks, audio and video files for listening practice and ESL interactive websites.

The Learner Blog

These are blogs that are either run by individual learners themselves or by small collaborative groups of learners. In ESL, learner blogs may be best suited for reading and writing classes. A common reading assignment can be followed by blog postings on the thoughts of each learner or group of learners. Furthermore, the act of constructing the blog may encourage the use of search engines and net surfing in English to find the appropriate sites to which links can be made.  This will empower the learner to direct the reader to sites of choice for further reading. Individually, blogs can be used as journals for writing practice, or as free-form templates for personal expression. The idea here is that students can get writing practice, develop a sense of ownership, and get experience with the practical, legal, and ethical issues of creating a hypertext document. In addition, whatever they write can instantly be read by anyone else and, due to the comment features of the software, further exchange of ideas is promoted. Tutors can even run a mega-blog of select topics of interest gleaned from student blogs so that the broader issues are brought into focus on a single website.

The Class Blog

This type of blog is the result of the collaborative effort of an entire class. The following are some possible uses:

• In conversation-based classes it could be used like a free-form bulletin board for learners to post messages, images, and links related to classroom discussion topics. It could also be a space for them to post thoughts on a common theme assigned for homework.
   
• With intermediate and advanced learners, class blogs might also useful for facilitating project-based language learning, where learners can be given the opportunity to develop research and writing skills by being asked to create an online resource for others.
   
• Class blogs could also be used as a virtual space for an international classroom language exchange.  In this scenario, learners from different countries would have joint access and publishing rights to the blog. The entire exchange would then be transparent to all readers and could be followed and commented on by other learners, tutors, parents and friends.
   
• For reading and writing classes, it might also involve the use of knowledge management software, like Userland's Manila, that allows for a great deal of threaded discussion behind the scenes. Much like a publishing group, individual learners can be given varying amounts of responsibility to publish material arising from postings on the discussion list. The results of this effort are what is seen on a website by the public at large." 

English Courses and You Tube

On Monday, Sister Brigid used You Tube to provide our Shakespeare Plays of Love course a visual, as we read a long to the play. I do find that with watching a video or listening to the book on tape/online I understand my English texts a lot more. Which I thought it was interesting how being in this course, I now even see my professors teaching with technology! You Tube/ School Tube can be great " read along" tools! Also, my tutor told me about www.learnoutloud.com. This site has many books on tape, which you can download for free. I have found these tools help me. Any thoughts or other suggestions?

Urban Educators Use Blogs for Support

Teaching at an urban school district has many challenges that are unique, compared to working an a more suburban district. With these challenges, teachers and administrators often feel they need more support. They need a place to find out more about techniques, disciplinary issues, and other things. So blogs have become very important for these educators in finding the support they need. Do any of you have plans to teach in an urban district and what do you plan on using for support? blogs?

Observations So far!

Well, I had a full day at my school for Ed 340. I love the class I am in, a first grade classs! The students and teacher are great! I have learned a lot already, I even was given some sample worksheets etc. One the best things I saw was they do a " Super Readers" program. The students break into groups of three, and they read to their peers. It's as if, they are the teachers! It was a great lesson idea!

Teenage Parents and How Blogs are Keeping Them Going....

As teachers, it't important to keep in mind all the personal stuff adolescents deal with. Besides the pressures of school there is a lot of pressure for these students about college, sports, drugs, and sex. Many students are teenage parents for example. So not only do these parents have to worry about tomorrow's math test or an upcoming AP exam, they are dealing with changing diapers or reading a bed time story. It is a way of life for more students then you may realize, and even though its a challenge for these students, receiving an education is still possible. Here I found a blog specifically for teenage mothers, sharing there stories. http://www.circleofmoms.com/teenage-mothersyoung-mothers/Teenage-mothers-blog-Tell-your-true-story-277097  I believe that these blogs can provide encouragement, hope and motivation to keep these kids going! Do you know any teenage parents who use a blog? And do you think schools should encourage teenage parents to go to resources, such as blogs, to help them?

Blogging and Students with Autism

Hi Guys! I saw an article recently, that gave me an idea for this post! I think, that perhaps blogging would be a great idea for students with autism. I keep seeing articles online, about how children with autism are loving the IPAD. So then I thought, maybe they would love to blog! In case you didnt know, children on the autism spectrum sometimes have a hard time socially, especially giving eye contact. But students with autism are often very bright.  ( Also future teachers- NJ has the highest rate of children with autism). Many children with autism love technology and are good at using these things. We've discussed in class, how one of the benefits of blogging in school, is that students develop a certain writing style. A student with autism, may have an easier time expressing their thoughts on the computer, especially if computers is one of their strengths and interest.  I have a feeling, that blogs may be able to communicate what these students in social situations ( face to face) sometimes have difficulty with. What do you think?

Learning About Smart Board!

On Thursday, I learned about the Smartboard. I observed that I can simply touch the screen and have shapes be colored in, and then moved around. I can put maps or any image I want either from clip art or the web onto the board. Dr. Ries was showing me how I can use it in math class ( like counting the number of flowers). Or do a great lesson on maps by enlarging the image. I was in the beginning  a little nervous about all this smart board stuff, but I do think its all interesting and can be a great tool. I really like that the shapes can flipped or put behind another image. Especially because, in math this is a topic elementary/middle school students learn. I am excited to keep learning more. What are some other lessons you would use smart board for? 

Dragon Naturally Speaking Product

Hi! One more thing I wanted to add, since yesterday I wrote about therapeutic ed, and about using technology for special needs students. I myself use a program called Dragon Naturally Speaking sometimes to help me type my papers. I have a difficult time with the speed of typing, so luckily someone told me about this program. When I talk into the microphone, it types what I say. I am still

new at using it, because I only started a couple a months ago, but it works well. I just wanted to share that with you all. Feel free to post any questions... any one else use any technology products to help them with school work? If so, what do you use?

Using technology for Therapeutic Education

For me personally, my goal is to become a special education teacher. I have experiences of working with children and adolescents with a variety of special needs- physical disabilities, learning disorders, and working with the emotionality disabled. I was reflecting on a past blog's comment on how writing, and writing in a format like this could become therapeutic. So, then I had a though: Using Technology  for therapeutic education. Probably, a lot you are not so familiar with this term, or terms like " therapeutic boarding schools".  These are schools, that often times are for youth at risk- they may have a disability or substance abuse addiction,  This led to a little bit of research... and here for example is an article for using technology for emotionally/behaviorally disordered students, I thought some of you might want to look at.  http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED339155.pdf. I am looking forward to learning more about assistive technology. and how technology is used in counseling services for youth! What are your thoughts?

Another Snow Day....What are Some Activities You know of that are fun and also encourage learning?

For a lot of kids this winter, they have had so many snow days! In some districts, they have already gone over their limit. My question is how can a snow day be used for learning... instead of the kids being inside watching tv,  what else can they do, that is fun but also has more learning to it? I think I would encourage the kids to do some arts and crafts, or they could even talk to their parents about science- snow, weather, etc. And of course-  sledding is good for them too! . Any other ideas, suggestions?