This article explained how boys are scoring lower than girls on reading tests, and how the gap continues to grow as students get older.  It lays out different ways to get boys more interested in reading, and explains how their brains are not as ready for some activities as soon as girls are.

Giving variety and choices, and allowing boys to focus on plot instead of emotions and feelings are just two examples of what the article says can be done to get boys more involved in reading in the classroom.  By getting them more interested in reading, their tests scores and the gap that we see will begin to improve.

Costello, B (2008). Leveraging gender differences to boost test scores. The Education Digest, 73(9), 32-35.

Related posts:

1. Closing gender gaps in science. Saunders, J., Nelson S.
2. Sax, L. Why Gender Matters
3. Reading, writing and gender: Instructional strategies and classroom activities that work for boys and girls. Goldberg, G., Roswell, B

McPherson focuses one the differences between wikis and blogs, the different types of wikis available (as of 2006), how reading levels of various wikis and electronic information should be considered by teachers, and inherent learning objectives involved when using wikis in the classroom.

First, McPherson clarifies that the overriding advantage of wikis over blogs is that a wiki

“permits visitors to add new information and, more important, edit previous authors’ submissions”

while a blog

“typically allows visitors to post responses to previous authors’ submissions – that is, visitors cannot go back and edit earlier blog submissions.”

In addition, there are two substantially different types of wiki pages, including public wikis, which are primarily created by anyone for just about any purpose, and then classroom-based wikis, which are created by teachers and students for various classroom purposes.  McPherson lists a number of examples that a reader could actually visit online to see and experience the differences.

McPherson’s greatest point may be regarding reading levels.  He strongly recommends checking a site’s readability before sending students to read its content.  By running readability tests by copying and pasting a chunk of text into Microsoft Word, a teacher can quickly calculate a source’s readability.

He goes on to point out that using this technology often increases classroom motivation, so where a student might give up on something that is just above his/her reading level, with this approach, a student is more likely to “stick it out.”  McPherson states,

“[C]omprehension of the wiki’s content is significantly compromised when students are faced with print ranked two or more grade levels above their own.”

McPherson closes with some important questions a teacher or librarian might ask to determine learning objectives with this technology.  They include the following:

• “What information literacy skills are unique to this format?;
• Can this literacy be learned faster or more clearly with another technology?; and
• “Is this a good use of my precious time on these computers?”

He also closes by sharing the importance of teachers’ responsibility to prepare students to determine qualitative, credible information.  McPherson writes,

“students must be taught information literacy skills aimed at evaluating the credibility and authenticity  of a wiki’s information.”

In particular, McPherson points out a helpful website in this vein at www.stenhouse.com/pdfs/8196ch09.pdf.

McPherson, K.  (2006, October).  Wikis and literacy development.  Teacher  librarian.  Vol. 34, Iss. 1.

Related posts:

1. Brown, N.E. and K. Bussert. Information literacy 2.0: empowering students through personal engagement.
2. Online literacy and new literacy
3. Educational uses of blogs and wikis. Flierl, R. and H. Fowler.

Before I was introduced to wikis in April 2008, I never would have envisioned how much my teaching could use these new technologies.  More importantly, my students could not be more ready to take their education to a new level that I sincerely hope will better connect them to the world and prepare them to participate in a digital world.  The time is now, and while students have been hungry for this opportunity, the reinforcing research is thorough enough to justify using wikis,blogs, podcasts, Flickr, Moodle, and online writing technologies that I feel can significantly improve students’ writing, and perhaps more importantly, prepare them for digital citizenship.

This article is the 2nd in a series, based on action research I collected while studying for my M.Ed, explores the impact digital technology can have on how our students learn, and how we, as educators, can leverage that impact for the good of our students.

You can also read the rest of the series here at We Teach We Learn

1. Web 2.0: Pedagogical Evidence and Brain Research

3. Web 2.0 Technologies and Online Writing Tools (coming soon)

4. Online Security and Safety (coming soon)

Online literacy and new literacy

Another important line of literature focused on the importance of students both being exposed to concepts in and employing online literacy.  In their article, “Information Literacy 2.0:  Empowering Students Through Personal Engagement,” Brown and Bussert, who used the Web 2.0 technology Flickr in a learning community in Cairo, Egypt, point out that

“[c]ommon Web 2.0 applications such as blogs, wikis, and social bookmarking tools are ‘intrinsically user-centered and can be leveraged by Information Literacy (IL) instructors for a creative, student-centered teaching and learning environment” (Brown, Bussert, 2007).

And while some resources argued that simply exposing students to these technologies does not improve their online literacy, this article opposes that position, stating that the

“. . .fundamental hypothesis underlying the use of social software to teach key information literacy concepts is that student learning will increase due to personal engagement, use of preferred learning styles, and application to daily life” (Brown, Bussert, 2007).

These resources go on to detail ways in which exposure is important, and also how they can more specifically be applied as powerful classroom tools.  But in this set, understanding how to use them is part of the education, according to authors like Luce-Kapler, who cites visual literacy using these mediums as yet another layer of important learning students get while utilizing new technologies.

Calling these new literacies “radical change,” which is also a portion of the author’s title, Luce-Kapler highlights three main forms of new literacies:

“(1) changing forms and formats such as new forms of graphics, new levels of synergy between text and pictures, nonlinear and nonsequential organizations and formats, and multiple layers of meaning and interactive formats;

(2) changing perspectives such as multiple points of view both visual and verbal and previously unheard voices, including youth; and

(3) changing boundaries such as dealing with previously forbidden or overlooked subjects and settings, new types of communities, characters portrayed in new and complex ways, and unresolved endings” (Luce-Kapler, 2007,  p. 215).

And although Jakes doesn’t come right out and say it, his assertion that using wikis and Web 2.0 writing technologies also “promote[s] a lifetime of participation and contribution,” leading to what some writers described as digital citizenship.  Students will be sharing ideas, debating, agreeing, asking questions, and leading discussions using these technologies, and through such collaborative efforts, they will also be challenging their own thinking while challenging the thinking of their peers as well.

Finally, it is one thing for students to know how to participate in social networking Web 2.0 technologies, and many are doing so rather comfortably, but do they really understand what they are doing?  Do they understand the potential that exists beyond the social web as they move toward this “digital citizenship” that undoubtedly stands before them?

J. Salpeter’s article “Make Students Info Literate” focuses on what the author calls education’s most clear goal for the next century:  “[H]ow to develop a new generation of knowledgeable digital citizens who can operate in the unregulated online world” (Salpeter, 2008, p. 25).  She also makes emphatic mention of the NTCE’s adoption of new literacy goals and correlating definitions – an obvious eye-opener to any educators (especially English instructors) who are failing to pay attention.  The authors I read seemed to predict the NCTE’s move, as Brown and Bussert already understood through their Flickr implementation back in 2004-05, defining information literacy as “the set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information” (Brown, Bussert, 2007).

Jakes’s most profound statement in his article, “New Literacies:  Enrichment or Essential?” supports these claims, stating, “Our kids need to use the Web for learning in many ways, but we have to structure online learning so that it is true inquiry, supported by the requisite information literacy skills, so that students, when in need, have internalized a problem-solving approach to build answers to questions of importance.”  In K. Bolan, M. Canada, and R. Cullin’s article “Web, Library, and Teen Services 2.0,” the authors go so far as to argue that

“[g]aming is one of the newer services that libraries are implementing that embraces library 2.0 beliefs.  Contrary to what some may think, gaming is recognized as a literacy activity” (Bolan, Canada, Cullin, 2007, p. 42).

At this point, I can quickly see how information and online literacy is of great importance, and the NCTE obviously will be pushing all of us forward.  For me, when I have historically looked at Wisconsin and national standards, the technology pieces are often those that are given the least attention, mostly because I know that although important, they will not be addressed on the test.  But that is my motivation – not to teach to a test, but to prepare these students for digital citizenship.

One might argue that by not preparing them as such, they will be ill-equipped to fully function and contribute within our democracy, and further, with our international neighbors.  By employing Web 2.0 technologies, I will already be assisting them in becoming more digitally literate – helping them to decipher quality resources from those that are potentially fraudulent.  This always mattered to me, but now I will implement that concern by embedding that in my teaching.

In addition, as an English teacher who teaches a research paper and incorporates literary research with analysis papers, there are a number of opportunities for me to teach to these new literacies, and not to simply meet the “F” criteria in the Wisconsin State Standards.  As for environmental aspects, I suspect that with these technologies will come new responsibilities for students as they are not working in their own corner of the room any longer; because a number of their contributions will be accessible to all students in my classes, they may feel more inclined to take care with the work they do, and more naturally become more conscious of the quality and compassion behind what they contribute.  Jakes continually asked his title question:  “Enrichment or Essential?” (Jakes, 2006).  It will become my job to make online literacy essential, not simply an exercise in enrichment for my classes.

Home page image credit

Bolan, K., M. Canada, and R. Cullin (2007). Web, library, and teen services 2.0 Young adult library services, 5 (2), 40-43

Brown, N.E. and K Bussert. (2007). Information literacy 2.0: empowering students through personal engagement. Eric Document Reproduction Service : ED 500-136

Jakes, D. (2006). New literacies: enrichment or essential? Paper presented at TechForum in San Diego, California

Luce-Kapler, R. (2007). Radical Change and Wikis: Teaching New Literacies Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51 (3), 214-223 DOI: 10.1598/JAAL.51.3.2

Salpeter, J. (2008). Make students info literate. Technology & Learning, 25-28

Related posts:

1. Web 2.0 technologies and online writing tools
2. Wikis and literacy development.
3. Brown, N.E. and K. Bussert. Information literacy 2.0: empowering students through personal engagement.

An Annotation by Laurie Walsh

The authors state that teaching multicultural literature “must somehow be about changing students’ cultural perspectives and helping students to better understand their lives and the lives of those around them” (54).  This is true for all literature – in my estimation!  They state that we risk “simplifying and universalizing the complex experiences of discrimination and oppression” when we ask students to “relate to or empathize with unfamiliar characters and situations.”  The researchers felt puzzled after their semester of research; white students reported they had come to new understandings about systematic oppression, race and social class.  Ultimately, the researchers concede that change comes slowly, and through perspective taking, the students are being challenged and the seeds of change are planted.  The article explores different instructional strategies to encourage perspective-taking: mind reading, drama and performance activities, discussion techniques (students adopt tentative hypotheses or hunches about the characters’ actions or perspective and students try on different perspectives by voicing broad prototypical perspectives rather than personal perspectives), and writing prompts.

Related posts:

1. Key words in instruction: literature circles.
2. Literature circles: voice and choice in the student-centered classroom. Daniels, H.
3. Radical change and wikis: teaching new literacies.

An Annotation by Laurie Walsh

This book is loaded with practicality!  The author explains reading as a constructive process.  Meaning is determined by the reader’s experiences, the text itself, the learning context, and the strategies applied by the reader to obtain meaning.  The first three, short chapters explain the process, consider text frames, and explain fact pyramids.  The rest of the book, pages 24 through 139 provide “classroom strategies for teaching and learning.”  Each strategy has a few introductory paragraphs, the strategy explanation in steps, the applicable graphic organizer, an explanation of advantages to the strategy, and a further resources section.  I have used several of the strategies in this book, and they have been consistently effective.

Related posts:

1. Reading, writing and gender: Instructional strategies and classroom activities that work for boys and girls. Goldberg, G., Roswell, B
2. Active learning: creating excitement in the classroom. Bonwell, C.C. & Eison, J.A.
3. Ball, W. H. & Brewer, P. F. Socratic seminars. In Teaching in the block: strategies for engaging active learners

An Annotation by Laurie Walsh

The title hooked me, the ideas made me think, the article applies to my professional reading for my action research and the M.Ed. program, and the article offers perspectives for me to consider when writing my own papers.  The author begins by stating the supposed divide between theorists and practitioners does not exist – we’re all both.  He provides a convincing case for why teachers should read theory: it helps us name our practice; it helps us break out of our cultural, historical and contextual generalizations; it can provide alternative viewpoints in the absence of colleagues; it forces homogeneous group think to the wayside; it places our practice in a social context.  The author encourages the reader to look at theoretical writing through four questioning strategies: epistemological (Is the writing skewed by the writer’s paradigm? What evidence does the writer use? Is the writing culturally skewed? Does it fuse descriptive and prescriptive writing?), experiential (Is it relevant to your experiences as a teacher?  Does it address ethical issues?), communicative (What is the voice of the writing?  Does it use specialized language in a justifiable manner?  What do the metaphors and analogies show about the writer?), political (Whose interests are served? Does it  offer a one-method-works-for-all- ideology? Are the images of teaching individualistic or collectivist?  Does it make us reflect on democratic forms and processes?).  I like this article because it challenges me to be a more critical thinker.  Imagine if I can help my students look at my classroom environment, the content, and our responses to literature and each other through these various lenses.  Powerful!

Related posts:

1. Reading, writing and gender: Instructional strategies and classroom activities that work for boys and girls. Goldberg, G., Roswell, B
2. Notes from the battlefield: toward a theory of why people write. Fox, M.
3. “Choice theory” and student success. Glasser, W.

An Annotation

Recommended for grades 3-8, this book is loaded with specific lessons, tools, and activities designed to teach Language Arts skills (such as reading and writing) with gender in mind.  The authors do very little linking brain-based gender issues to pedagogy, so the value of this book lies in its practicality and activities, of which there are plenty.  In short the activities are presented as things that work without much discussion about why they work.

One additional value of this book is at the very end, where you’ll find an annotated bibliography of nineteen sources related to gender and Language Arts—none of which I’ve included here.

Related posts:

1. Gender Differentiation: Should we really be treating boys and girls differently?
2. Classroom strategies for interactive learning. Buehl, D.
3. With boys and girls in mind. Gurian, M., Stevens, K.

Another month, another collection of outstanding examples of “Edgy” teaching and learning. This month we received 45 submissions. Only 17 made the cut. But I’ve got to tell you–I am so excited by the quality of those 17!! This is by far our best issue yet.

Plus, just for fun, I thought I’d try something new this month and rank each of the 17 accepted submissions from most “Edgy” to least. Now, keep in mind this rank is entirely subjective and, well–in the grand scheme of things–completely meaningless.

Still I thought it might be fun within the context of a carnival.

If your submission did not make the cut. Please don’t give up! Just review the guidelines next time. So let’s get right to it.

And the winner is . . .

If this carnival had an award, we’d call it an “Edgy” (hey, that’s not a bad idea actually) and this month’s winner would be Sara Finegan. Her post, Say what? Asking questions as one reads posted at Readers With Autism, is simply outstanding. She introduced herself to us by saying, “My blog is dedicated to helping struggling readers with autism, with an emphasis on anaphoric cuing, but this approach works for any kids having difficulty with reading comprehension.” And it only got better from there.

In her post, she shares with us a real example of how she worked through the reading difficulties of one of her students. But what caught my attention (and thought was super cool) after a bit of back story, Sara admits a mistake:

Right here is when I made a mistake that took several days to undo. Do not, I repeat, do NOT repeat this at home:

“What do you think I think about when I’m reading?” I asked.

“I don’t know.”

“I think about what the author is telling me.”

“The author isn’t talking,” said Sam, very reasonably and with a bit of concern that I might perhaps be delusional.

“Oh, but she is,” I said. “She is talking in writing. The words she’s writing are her way of talking to us as readers.”

This did not go over well with Sam. Like all readers with autism, he is a concrete thinker and takes everything absolutely literally. Since he could not hear or see the author, the idea that she might be talking to him freaked him out. He began looking for the author and trying to hear her, and worrying that she might not be very nice, and doing all sorts of other mental gyrations that led to a great deal of anxiety on his part.

This post is about much more than reading with autistic students. Sara guides us through a technique that we can all use when working with struggling readers.

The idea is to teach kids to question as they read and then to pause and summarize what they’ve been reading. . . the work almost immediately begins to influence their reading, and they love it.

If you’re at all interested in helping your students (at any level) make deeper connections to what they’re reading, Sara’s post (and blog) is a must read. We’ve just added her to our RSS reader. You should too.

This month’s runner up is Tracy Schiffmann because things don’t get much more “edgy” than when you have a few (ahem) “resistant learners” in your class. Tracy’s submission, Intervention Strategies for Managing Resistant or Disruptive Behavior posted at Schiffmann Curriculum Design & Training outlines three solid strategies for dealing with this inevitability as a teacher. Because, as she says,

. . .it isn’t just you and the person exhibiting the behavior, it is everyone in the room who is holding their breath, attention riveted, to find out how you will respond.

Hadley Ferguson rounds out our top three “Edgy” posts this month by sharing a story of “shock and awe” in Talking about Facebook posted at Middle School Matrix

Like Hadley, many of us are running into administrative roadblocks when it comes to using Web 2.0 technology in the classroom. He didn’t accept the status quo for his students however, because, as he rightly says:

. . .as an educator who is committed to introducing my classes to the tools of the Web, I feel a responsibility to teach them how to protect themselves out there. My administrator understood. Three cheers for her! She said that in the past, it was forbidden, but that the world is changing, and we need to meet the needs of the students.

Hat tip to Hadley for going out of his way to bring the virtual world into his classroom in order to discuss the very real implications social networking has on student privacy.

Next, Shelly Terrell presents Do Our Students Realize They Live in the World? | Teacher Reboot Camp posted at Teacher Boot Camp.

In this post Shelly shares with us some practical techniques to help prepare our students for the global economy. Having worked on over 20 different global teams and dozens of international projects, she knows what she’s talking about. Currently in Germany, Shelly outlines nine common stumbling blocks multicultural teams often experience and seven things that we, as teachers, can do to help prepare our students to overcome them. Shelly does a great job summing up the central problem her post addresses, saying:

Social media, such as Twitter, makes us more globally aware. However, are we preparing our students to effectively problem solve, collaborate, and communicate with their peers abroad? My experience has shown me that several students still live in a microcosm where they carry misconceptions and assumptions about people living in other countries. The problem is that when these students enter their career fields they will have to collaborate with others from various cultures and backgrounds. When this communication takes place our students will carry those assumptions and misconceptions into the conversation either verbally or non-verbally and create barriers to effective problem-solving of global issues.

I love this next post because it’s a great example of solid research and its implications. Strenua presents Increased Cardiovascular Fitness Increases IQ posted at Strenua’s World, saying, “A new study in young adults has revealed that those who are physically fit, have a higher IQ and are more likely to go to university. The researchers suggest that physical education is a subject that has an important place in schools and is an absolute must if we want to do well in maths and other theoretical subjects.” This is a must read for anyone out there fighting for more physical activity for their students

I think this is Rachel Lynette’s 3rd submission to The Edge of Education, and if we’re learning anything about Rachel and her blog, it’s that you can count on her for solid, quality teaching and learning. This month she share’s I’m Done! What to do with Bright Students posted at Minds in Bloom.

I really appreciated Rachel’s post because not only does she describe some good options for differentiation, she breaks theme into categories of “Ideally” “Still Good” and “Please Don’t.” Differentiation isn’t always easy. It’s one of the things I continue to struggle with. Rachel has a good grasp on it, saying:

Intelligence is by nature, a bell curve. In every class there are likely to be a few kids (usually the same few) who understand the concepts immediately and are finished before most of the rest of the class is even halfway done. . . So, here are some minimal-prep ideas of what to do with those bright kids to keep them challenged:

Nightwalker compliments Rachel’s tips nicely by sharing 25 Tips to teach students with learning problems | My English Pages posted at My English Pages.

Coincidentally, he also grouped his (or her–”Nightwalker” is one of those gender ambiguous names, like Pat or Chris) tips into three categories: Methods (things we can do within our instruction), Assignments (things we ask our students to do), and Testing (different assessment strategies).

Next, Karenne Sylvester presents Kalinago English: The Dogma of Dogme posted at Kalinago English.

Karenne gets points for spunk. I guarantee you’ll enjoy her post encouraging you to step away from your textbook and into one that’s much more relevant. Here’s a sample:

Now there’s no doubt in my mind that someone much cleverer out there than me is reading this and has figured out the structure of your average textbook so I’ll just ask go on ahead and tell you: share it with us!

I mean do the publishers even care that the unit themes they’ve chosen have no direct relationship to the following one?

That they rarely have anything to do with our students’ lives?

After a quick assessment of Annette Berlin’s blog, I think she mostly writes about crafting. Still, she shares an interesting book review with her post, Amazing Leonardo da Vinci Inventions posted at Craft Stew, saying, “I’m a big fan of technology books written for kids. I first discovered them when I home schooled my son for 7 years.”

Personally, da Vinci fascinates me. Still, I thought this might be a cool book to have in many different classrooms–for many different reasons. The following from Annette’s post grabbed my attention:

Amazing Leonardo da Vinci Inventions is the newest addition to my book collection. The book starts off with a history of the Renaissance and then goes on to a biography of da Vinci. After that, the project section begins.

The project section is divided into five parts: art, machines, water, flight and war. There are anywhere from 2-6 projects in each category.

C’mon. You have to admit, da Vinci based project learning would be Edgy.

Next, Allison Johanson presents 55 Tips to Instantly Make Your Brain Stronger and Faster posted at Masters in Health Informatics.

While I take issue with Allison’s use or definition of the word “Instantly,” I still enjoyed browsing her list of tips and links, which include things like discovering your learning style, enjoying open courseware, and keeping a “dream journal” (which is ironic because last night I had a dream that I caught a touchdown pass from Brett Favre in the Superbowl, but nobody saw it because it was in a classroom full of tables and chairs and the only people in the room were the players. I wonder what that means . . .)

Anyway, speaking of open courseware, this seems to be a theme that sort of sprouted up on it’s own this month.

Diane Laine sent us an interesting explanation of open coursware (ocw for those in the know), The Definitive User’s Guide to OCWConsortium.org posted at College Stats.org.

And Frederick Yarmy submitted Which Online Universities Are Embracing Open Courseware? posted at Online University Data.

Three separate posts–all unsolicited–all pointing to open courseware. Hmmm. Coincidence? (Cue X-Files theme music). Edgy. Very Edgy indeed. . .

Anyway, M Dahms brought me back from my Twilight Zone type daydream of coincidental conspiracy theories by answering a very down-to-earth question: What is Reader’s Workshop? posted at A Reader’s Community.

Harold Gelien followed that with his blog post: Top 50 Blogs for e-Learning Tools and Tips posted at Top Online University Reviews.

Next up, Herbert Aitken presents 50 Free Online Educational Games That Are More Fun Than You’d Think posted at How To E-D-U.

Megan Wong presents Fun Brain Learning » Amazing preschool books – “Mind Power Series” posted at Fun Brain Learning.

I’m not sure if all of these next links qualify as “Edgy” because I didn’t have enough time to click through to them all, but Angela Martin presents 100 Incredibly Useful Links for Teaching and Studying Shakespeare posted at Online Colleges.org. Useful? Sure, if your teaching Shakespeare. Otherwise you have my permission to skip this one.

And that about wraps it up . . .

Well, that concludes this edition of The Edge of Education. I hope you had as much fun as I did.

If you’d like to submit a blog article to the next edition using our carnival submission form, we think that would be swell.  Remember, you can’t win an Edgy (which, we promise, is nothing like a wedgie), or any other make-believe awards here at We Teach We Learn, if you don’t submit. So, come on in! The water’s fine.  The more the merrier.  Or feel free to use your own cliche . . . Whatever works to motivate you to take your blog (and your professional sharing) to the next level.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Related posts:

1. The Edge of Education Carnival. Issue 1
2. The Edge of Education Carnival. Issue 4
3. The Edge of Education Carnival. Issue 2

Wilhelm, J. (2002). Getting boys to read: it’s the context! It’s not the       text type so much as the situation that determines why and how boys engage with reading. Scholastic Instructor 16-18.

Wilhelm contends that when trying to engage boys in reading, it has more to do with the content than the pictures, text type, or look of a book. Engaging material for boys makes connections with them and their lives. Engaging reading allows boys to see themselves and their concerns in the text they’re reading.

Related posts:

1. Getting boys to read: it’s the context! Wilhelm, J.
2. Leveraging gender differences to boost test scores.
3. Teaching the male brain: How boys think, feel, and learn in school. James, A.