In addition to subscribing to this blog via RSS or e-mail, you can find almost daily quick tips and links by following mrneedleman on Twitter, multimedia files are posted to youtube where you can subscribe and visitors who have gotten through this blog via the Open Court Resources side of the site can become a fan of Open Court Resources on Facebook.
Thank you to those of you who attended my workshop, “RTI: A Complete Apple Workflow” at the CUE conference this weekend. I spoke about using Apple Software to address your Response to Intervention program. This post contains the links, resources, and ideas that I shared. Rather than simply posting the keynote file (which is much easier) I prefer to recap and flush out some of the ideas so that it’s beneficial even to those who weren’t there.
What is RTI?
As I define it, rather than simply teaching everyone the same thing and assuming that if someone doesn’t “get it” that there’s something wrong with them, RTI assumes that there will be students who do not master a concept after whole group instruction and will need additional time and intensity (interventions) to master concepts. This, of course, is very similar to the idea of Independent Work Time.
Alice Mercer, in her CUE presentation, also addressed RTI and went into additional detail in defining it.
Part One: Dealing with Data
It’s very important to collect and analyze data in order to target interventions to specific student need. ”Fluency” is to vague to be an intervention. Focusing on short vowels, long vowels, or digraphs is a better intervention because it targets a specific student need. Using Apple’s iWork (Pages and Numbers) or even Microsoft Word’s (Office and Excel) can help you to organize data by creating a spreadsheet, graphing data, and using the word processor’s mail merge functions to create parent reports about student data. I much prefer iWork to Office because of its ease of use and the ability to create better looking documents.
Here’s additional information on graphing in Numbers and how to use the mail merge function. I taught both these things in the workshop.
Part Two: Prescriptions for Success ways of using Apple technology to address student needs
Fluency
- Find free Reader’s Theater scripts here
- See two of my projects done this way…The City Mouse and the Country Mouse and Tales from the Yard
- Find a voice recorder
- Find out more about these techniques through Escondido Unified’s iRead Project
Comprehension
- See our example for the Look Again Camouflage Unit
- Read about how vocabulary is scaffolded for such projects
Behavior
While behavior tracking software is popular among schools with large behavior problems. I saw office referrals eliminated in my classroom simply through working on these movie projects. I gave the example of Joseph, a student who I knew would not be quiet if I was to call “Quiet on the Set.” Instead of playing through that scenario and getting annoyed at Joseph ruining other students’ projects, I decided to make Joseph the engineer. He called out “Quiet on the Set!” and he pushed the red Garageband button. The rest of the class was dead quiet and Joseph experienced being a successful and productive member of our class rather than being the one who wrecked everything. This is a behavioral intervention…intervening to improve student behavior rather than punishing students for bad behavior.
Evidence
Here are two slides that show some evidence that these techniques are producing gains although I am the first to admit that we need to continue collecting data on the subject.
In my classroom, I saw an 18% increase in the number of students reading at benchmark 12 weeks after working on the Reader’s Theater script, The City Mouse and the Country Mouse:
In Escondido Unified, they saw average gains of about 40 words per minute after six weeks of reading with iPods whereas normal gains are about 10 words per minute:
Bonus
Here are some incidental things I mentioned in my presentation.
HandBrake for ripping movies from commercial DVDs you own for storing on iPod.
PWN Youtube and other ways of downloading Youtube movies.
BXMXM7FY39V3
My presentation for this year’s K12Online Conference, Steal This Preso: Copyrights, Fair Use, and Pirates in the Classroom!, is now live and viewable below. I’ve also included links to my favorite royalty free media sites and additional resources below.
The Presentation
BlipTV direct link to download video file
use this to download to your iPod or if DotSub is blocked in your district
BlipTV audio file
use this if you want only the audio portion of the presentation (not as fun)
Additional Information
Barely Legal Radio Program (available as podcast)
I’ve learned tons about copyrights and fair use from listening to Joe Escalante’s show. It’s entertaining as well as educational. I’ve recommended this before and it’s never caught on with other educators but if you are really interested in this topic, do check it out.
Public Domain Slider
Helps you identify if a work is in the public domain. Very cool. However, note that most work is not in the public domain.
Code of Best Practices in Media Literacy Education
I found this thanks to Joyce Valenza’s K12 Online presentation. It supports what I’m saying and expands upon it.
Lawrence Lessig’s Book, Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy
There are ways that current copyright law has not kept up with digital technologies. Lawrence Lessig explores this in his book. I recorded a section of this preso in which I talked about this but ultimately deleted for time and clarity.
Additional Relevant Information from my blog
Royalty Free Resources
Please see these posts:
Royalty Free Images, Movies, and Music Part I
If you’ve never heard of the K12 Online Conference, all you need to know is that it’s a free online conference with presentations from some of the greatest minds in educational technology (they’ve also asked me to present). All presentations are accessible from the web site. You can even see presentations from previous years. You can download and watch the presentations at your leisure Did I mention that it’s free?
Last year, I presented Film School for Video Podcasters, a short film on how to create better classroom movies. This year, I present Steal This Preso! Copyrights, Fair Use, and Pirates in the Classroom.
I hope to deal with several common misconceptions about copyrights as they relate to classroom multimedia projects.
The presentation goes live next month. In the meantime, please see the trailer:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TP9r1t-T9I[/youtube]
Here are the links for my latest iMovie workshop at the Los Angeles County Office of Education. These page will likely be updated at the end of day two of the workshop.
In this workshop participants learn the basic and advanced features of iMovie ’09 and create their own commercials, public service announcements or one minute narratives.
iMovie Help
Apple Movie Tutorials
(free movies for reminders of simple tasks)
iMovie ’09 Handout
(a fantastic printable handout by Luis Perez)
Copyrights and Fair Use
Royalty Free Images/Sounds/Movies
The Fair Use Doctrine
(here’s what’s allowed)
Public Domain Slider
(how to determine what’s in the public domain)
Barely Legal Radio Podcast
(entertainment law talk show)
Movies Shown in Class
Mathew’s K12 Online Conference Presentation
High School Musical 2 Trailer Demonstrating Rule of Thirds
Cooties Public Service Announcement Parody
Christopher Knight for School Board
Alec Couros Grad School Trailer
Software Mentioned
HandBrake
(for getting movies off of DVDs)
Mouse Locator
(free program for making your mouse visible for presentations)
Facts About Bullying
Update: Youtube Downloaders
PWN Youtube (easiest)
Insert the letters PWN before youtube in your web browser address and select download.
Zamzar.com
Instructions are here.
Updated: Handouts from workshop and updated links.
Handouts
Technical Resources
iWork Tutorials
free movies you can watch on Apple’s web site which show you step by step how to complete tasks in Keynote, Pages, and Numbers
Design Resources
Make Captivating Graphs and Charts
Before and After Slides from Garr Reynolds
Royalty Free Images
School Purchase Info
iWork School Site License
for only $250 you can purchase a license for up to 500 computers at a school site
Bonus (Presenter Tools)
Mouse Locator
Software to make your mouse easier to view on-screen when doing software demonstrations
Here are handouts and resources for the iMovie ’09 class at LACOE. This post is a work in progess. I will add additional resources as I find them.
Technical Resources
12 Page Handout (iMovie Basics by Luis Perez)
Apple Free Tutorials (Short How To Movies) for iMovie ’09
Additional Apple Free Tutorials
How to Export iMovies to Final Cut (Flickschool)
Artistic Resources
Film School for Video Podcasters
Curriculum Resources
Handout 9 Classroom Project Ideas by Mathew Needleman
Royalty Free Resources
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Katie Morrow and Craig Nansen for helping me find resources.
Here are all the myths with visuals from my presentation at Western Avenue Elementary…
Myth #7: Where’s the beef?
I’ve written about this before as well. Focusing on structure before starting to write can lead to bland, generic paragraphs and reduce writing to formula instead of communication. Instead, I recommend just writing and then molding that writing into a structure through revising. By frontloading too much information in the beginning, some students will be overwhelmed and shut down. Let them get their ideas out first.
Myth #8: Revising and Proofreading are the same thing…and students can’t do either.
Many teachers are students are still confused about this. Revising is about ideas and not about mistakes. If there’s an error that impedes meaning then by all means take care of it in the revising but proofreading is the stage that is about conventions and making the writing correct. Students can do both independently with your guidance as long as you are modeling how to do it and not just lecturing about it (see Myth #1).
Myth #9: Students can’t follow prompts.
Students don’t need prompts but sometimes they will have to write to them. They can learn to follow directions if you teach them how to read them and figure out what’s being asked. However, following a prompt is almost a separate skill from writing. The good news is that if you teach students how to write well then learning to write to a prompt is easy. If you do too much at one time then it’s harder for students to learn anything.
Myth #10 We write because the teacher tells us to.
We sometimes do a good job of teaching students that we read for pleasure but we rarely teach students that writing is about authentic communication and that it is sometimes done because someone wants to do it. This is why some students (some of whom eventually become teachers) hate writing. Students need real reasons to write. Let them write a presentation, a letter, a blog and write something that they care to write about.
Myth #4: Drawing is for babies.
I wrote about this already. Drawing is a valid form of prewriting and writing (see cave paintings). By allowing students to transition from drawings to labels and then sentences, you make writing relevant. Bringing visuals into the writing process also sparks imagination and allows non-writers and English Language Learners to participate in the process
Myth #5 Good writers don’t change their minds.
I have several blog entries that have never seen the light of day. I have a box of unfinished scripts. And most of my finished pieces have gone through tons of different iterations before being published. However, in many classrooms, whatever students start writing on Monday, they must take through the entire writing process. By having a publishing deadlines and not requiring students to move at the same pace within that structure, changing your mind is part of the process. Students can go back to their brainstorming list at any time and choose another idea (again, as long as they publish by the deadline).
Myth #6 Stories need a (traditional) beginning, middle, and end.
We were all taught that stories need a beginning, middle, and end but teaching that students often leads to a laundry list type of writing. Take for example, a story about visiting Raging Waters.
I went to Raging Waters with my mom. We parked the car. We bought tickets. We ate a hot dog. We rode many rides. We had fun. We were tired. We went home. I played video games with my cousin. He slept over. The next day he went home.
What is this story about? There are several possible stories in this piece of writing and few details. How about focusing on a small moment instead. How about focusing on just one ride and really noticing sensory details of the experience.
I could smell sunscreen all around me and heard the sound of ladies screaming as they rode down the slide. There were butterflies in my stomach as I climbed the steps of The Terror waiting my turn to slide down the one thousand foot drop…
Sometimes you have to just start writing and find the structure within what you’re writing. As per Lucy Calkins, it’s easier to revise a smaller, focused piece of writing then a long string of ideas.
