The Schoenblog

Way back in May I wrote my first post about Google Communities in the classroom as a reflection on the wonderful Google Education on Air online conference. I presented there about my work building classroom community and engaging learners with Communities. Find that post and my GHOA at Teaching and Learning with Google Communities: A #GoogleOnAir Reflection and More. Cassie Reeder was a part of my audience and she reached out to tell me about #edcampGlobal, another massive online conference. And now, months later #ECG2015 is here! On Saturday at 11 AM EST, I will again be presenting in a GHOA about Google Communities, with the help of my best friend, Dani Raskin Kennis.

You can register for #edcampGlobal at edcampglobal.wix.com/edcamp and find my upcoming presentation at tinyurl.com.edcampglobalcommunities--join it now, and I hope to see you there.

Click here to find my GHOA, live on Saturday 8/1 at 11 AM EST.

Building and Extending Student Knowledge with Google Communities 

I first read To Kill a Mockingbird seven years ago. For one reason or another, I never read it in high school; it wasn't until my first teaching position that I had the pleasure. In the time since, I taught the novel 2-4 times a year for five years to my tenth graders. In the past seven years, I've read Mockingbird well over a dozen times. The text moved down to the middle school, and that will make me forever sorry since it was my favorite book to teach. Needless to say, I have a close relationship with the story of Scout, Atticus, and Tom Robinson. I admired the tenacity of the young Jean Louise, Jem's struggle to become a young adult, and Atticus as a paragon of all that's right in the world. In fact, Atticus was my literary god. I used to tell students that when in doubt, Atticus had the answer. Critical Lens essay? Use Atticus' characterization and conflict. SAT essay? Atticus' closing argument will make great evidence for any topic. Have to make a tough decision? WWAD? What would Atticus do?

Meme via Pinterest. I wish I had this on a t-shirt.

"Atticus, you are rewriting history."

For better or worse, what absolutely fascinates me about Watchman are the differences in character and plot. The most important and obvious: Atticus won the trial of Tom Robinson. It's almost glossed over and not discussed nearly enough for me, but Tom Robinson was found innocent in the world of Watchman. I so desperately want to know what happened next. This world of Maycomb that almost was and now is will compel me to read and reread for years to come. Of course, we have the former KKK-member Atticus to content with, too, but oddly enough, this is less of an issue for me. Here's why:

To Kill a Mockingbird is Scout's story, and is appropriately written from the perspective of a young girl who has a blind faith in her father, the only true role model she has. In Watchman, Lee writes, "She looked at Maycomb, and her throat tightened: Maycomb was looking back at her. Go away, the old buildings said. There is no place for you here. You are not wanted. We have secrets."

The Atticus of Mockingbird is a moral paragon because his young daughter thinks it to be so. Whether or not she is correct is a much more complex question, but the simple fact that the entire story is seem through Scout's eyes adds such moral complexity to it's retelling in the not-so-sequel. Has Atticus changed? Or did we only ever know the Atticus who Scout knew? This article from Jezebel's title contends, "Atticus Was Always a Racist: Why Go Set a Watchman Is No Surprise." While I don't agree with everything, it's an interesting take. Who is Atticus Finch? The conflicted, complex, and maybe realistic old man or the dedicated, moral, and just lawyer and father?




In Watchman, Atticus tells his daughter, "Jean Louise, I'm only trying to tell you some plain truths. You must see things as they are, as well as they should be." What is the plain truth here?

The truth, for me, is that the corruption of Atticus isn't as important to me as the growth of Scout. After all these years, it's now Scout's turn and her real coming of age. Even with her 26-years of wisdom and despite living in the big city of New York, it's coming home that leads to her loss of innocence and reckoning with her father. The trial of Tom Robinson from her childhood no longer has that power since now Atticus won, changing the world of Maycomb we knew. No longer is this story about the coming of age of the precocious young girl but her struggles to reconcile the ideal of Atticus we used to share with the the morally complex old man that only a more adult Scout can begin to understand.

Despite the contradictions, confusion, and complexities, I enjoyed Watchman for the most part. I was fascinated by it the whole way through. The adult Jean Louise was a well-realized evolution of the tomboy we know and love, and to see her true coming of age was heartbreaking and nostalgia-ridden. The ideas and even dialogue that called back to Mockingbird both warmed and broke my heart. When Uncle Jack asks her, "What kind of people were we, Jean Louise? What kind of people are we?" and she replies, "I thought we were just people," I wanted to stand up and cheer. While I missed Jem and was desperate to learn the fate of Boo Radley, to read Aunt Alexandra try to again tell Scout about the facts of life and the reality of being a Finch was great. Even better was the realization: "No--I'm quite sure you know those facts already."





These characters live in the world of To Kill a Mockingbird that could have been, and maybe almost was. They are the characters as real to me as my friends and colleagues and have aged and grown with heart and wisdom. The evolution--or devolution--of Atticus Finch, too, certainly raises questions and controversy, but adds a complexity that the now adult Scout's journey requires to ring true. In Mockingbird, she came of age in her understanding of race, gender, and identity to the best of her childhood ability. Her father, though, was the admirable but unrealistic static hope of Maycomb. And while I'm not quite sure I like it, the characters are suddenly more real and flawed, living in a world of grey rather than that of black and white from Maycomb long ago.

The struggle to engage and empower students in authentic writing and peer response while teaching form and structure...

In this week's scholarly article pursuits, I read the March and July 2015 issues of English Journal. I've been a member of NCTE for a while and have a stack of these fantastic journals to catch up on, so I'm dedicating some of my reading to keeping up to date with research and practice for secondary English education.

An article that stuck with me in this batch is "Peer Response, Remixed: Authentic Peer Response through Audio Technology" by Michael Hoffman in the March issue. Hoffman posits that most peer response is too scaffolded and automated, to the point of being "student proof" and "manifestly free of investment." By focusing on structure, grammar, and mechanics, often through checklists, students (and perhaps teachers) "do not address the heart of writing: the message that students seek to impart through their text."


One solution Hoffman offers is the remix, a concept which fascinates me. Instead of a canned and automated peer response, students create something new by augmenting the original text with something else. He compares this to the Beastie Boys' album, Paul's Boutique, which samples from TV, movies, music, and sound effects. "The remix in the classroom becomes a means for students to explore meaning and to create meaning that is their own. The anchor text remains in the possession of the original author, but that cannot be said of the remix. It is now a joint production, in which the student as reader and interpreter shares creative authorship and authority." Basically, the responder uses audio clips and additions to remix a recording of the original work. The writer records a reading of the piece, which the second student remixes.

While this ideas fascinates me, it doesn't really serve the same purpose as a typical peer response or evaluation. Creation is essential but so is editing, revision, and evaluation. I've used a variety of peer review strategies over the past few years, ranging from checklists and conferencing and Google Forms to collaborative Google Docs editing and unstructured free responses. I agree with Hoffman's conceits, that these strategies often lead to a narrow and closed response, I'm not sure the remix addresses the real goal of most peer review. However, it still sounds like a lot of fun and a worthwhile act of creation. Instead of responding to mechanics and ideas, the students are truly creating something new. That said, I wish the article had links to some of the audio products his students produced through this work.

Beastie Boys' "Hey Ladies" from Paul's Boutique samples from over a dozen songs and has nearly the same number of allusions, according to this list. Hoffman mentions the band's work on this album as an example of a successful remix. Album art from Wikipedia.

What really interested me in this article are the questions that Hoffman raises and hints at regarding student writing and peer response. He argues that peer response efforts should focus on the "most essential question for an author: Does this text achieve what I intended?" I'm wondering about the balance between teaching students to write in approved forms and structures versus allowing them to choose the form to follow function. But how often do our students truly understand their function or purpose? How do we help them get to this metacognitive point?

I found his article really interesting but it left me with a lot of questions to consider moving in to next school year:

• How do we teach students to understand their purpose and intent as writers?
• Don't students often have the same overall intent? If all students are writing an argumentative essay, the intent is the same. Is this okay? Should the form and structure be the same, too?
• How do we balance the need for student empowerment, voice, and freedom with structure and scaffolding? How much freedom should we allow in writing?
• Is it better to start off by offering students freedom or restriction in writing? Where do we begin?
• When and how are peer responses most valuable? How do we teach students to make positive and authentic contributions?

I typically teach by students writing acronyms to help them structure their writing and find that it helps most students stay focused and organized. These acronyms tend to limit digression but not the development, unless the writer chooses to use them exclusively. It's an understand the rules before you can break them approach, and while it's been successful for me, I'm not sure that it's the best strategy. It may not be broken but I'm not sure it doesn't need some fixing.

I want to think about these questions and issues and write about my answers one day, but for now, I'm purposefully leaving them unanswered. If you have comments, ideas, or answers, I would love to hear them. Please comment or reach out on Twitter!

Last school year, I came across the quote above and shared it with my students often. "All of us are smarter than one of us." I can't find a clear author, and I've seen a few variations, but it's been a driving concept in my classroom. Before you ask the teacher, ask each other. We learn better together than we do alone. It's probably been useful every day since, and I plan to have it at the top of my syllabus next year.

One of the best parts of being a connected educator is being able to take that advice. Whenever I have a question, a problem, or need help, I know I can turn to my #PLN on Twitter for guidance. It's been great practice for me and a strong model to bring back to my classroom to show my colleagues and students the power of being connected. In May, I asked for #edtech advice to help give ideas to new teachers in a training, and I compiled those Tweets in a blog post: Crowdsourcing #EdTech Advice For New Teachers.

Yesterday, I took the same idea to crowdsource advice for hosting a successful edcamp. I've written about #edcampMVille before, but as we're six weeks away or so, I want to make sure we're ready to move forward.  Find more information about #edcampMVille at edcampmville.weebly.com if you're interested. The event is on 8/29 in Purchase, NY. The organizing team is great and I love our plans, but I thought it could help to consult the experts. I reached out to some organizers of past edcamps, like EdCampNJ, EdCampHV, EdCampLDR, and EdCampPhilly, along with my Twitter #PLN, and their advice is below.

Thank you to everyone who contributed. I was impressed with the responses I got in one day and would love to add more, so please comment or Tweet at me!

What's your best advice for a successful #edcamp? Help me crowdsource a new blog post and make #edcampMVille great! pic.twitter.com/i17DMUJhAV

— Adam Schoenbart (@MrSchoenbart) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart Coffee Adam! I had to drive 2+ hrs to get to #EdcampCNY-It was so amazing to have coffee and light breakfast when I arrived!

— Connie Rockow (@crockow8) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart Thought you might like to "see" #edcampCNY in action-get ideas? Thanks for the pics @MsRatcliff_LCSD https://t.co/gIvAN80cXo

— Connie Rockow (@crockow8) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart Connect w/enthusiatic educators who share #edcamp's vision & go from there. Get a date/venue 1st. Use SM to promote! #edcamphv

— Julie Jee (@mrsjjee) July 20, 2015

Plan to have no plan. Go with an open-mind and prepare to have it blown. https://t.co/loXQQpbBxO

— Cori (@MakingCentsOfIt) July 20, 2015

Make connections during lunch. Use collab note taking via GDocs. Don't let lrng stop after day's end - connect via Twitter @MrSchoenbart

— Dani Raskin (@missraskin) July 20, 2015

Offer food & prizes. Have WiFi & make schedule available online. Publicize widely not just w/"elite". Debrief after. https://t.co/KKxyo3mfp3

— Shervette M.P. (@AtlTeacher) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart what drives an #edcamp are the participants, their active participation, willingness to have important conversations, share.

— Christina Luce (@ChristinaMLuce) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart being able to draw a diverse group of participants is pretty key. Spreading the vision and mission of #edcamp is important.

— Christina Luce (@ChristinaMLuce) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart Encourage teachers to bring a friend.

— Ann Leaness (@aleaness) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart Get your local district behind you and contact some great sponsors like @plickers @edmodo @SymbalooEDU #edcampMVille

— Greg Bagby (@Gregbagby) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart @plickers @edmodo @SymbalooEDU Also talk it up on whatever social media the teachers in your area use. Pvt. And Pub.

— Greg Bagby (@Gregbagby) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart @Glennr1809 @NatalieFranzi @wkrakower @AJBianco @mrnesi @kristenswanson @geraldaungst @RobinMBurns have a great team!

— Jeffrey Bradbury (@TeacherCast) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart Appeal to more than just Ts when putting an #Edcamp together- invite local admin, districts & Ts unions to get buzz going.

— Kathleen Bellino (@kgbellino) July 20, 2015

@missraskin @MrSchoenbart share early & often any resources/tools that help newcomers understand #edcamp format; toughest part of #edcampwme

— Dan Ryder (@WickedDecent) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart @WickedDecent Here's my input. http://t.co/OBxFZyLcP7 some have had great results already with this too!

— art la flamme (@artlaflamme) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart @missraskin also open #edcamp up to anyone with an interest in education: policy, parents, students, community, admin

— Dan Ryder (@WickedDecent) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart Connect with other local organizers

— Kristen Swanson (@kristenswanson) July 21, 2015

@MrSchoenbart @NatalieFranzi @wkrakower @AJBianco @mrnesi @kristenswanson @TeacherCast best tips I got 1: you will get 50% of ppl who signup

— Chris Aviles (@TechedUpTeacher) July 21, 2015

@MrSchoenbart @NatalieFranzi @wkrakower @AJBianco @mrnesi @kristenswanson @TeacherCast best tip 2: people / 5 = number of pizzas to order

— Chris Aviles (@TechedUpTeacher) July 21, 2015

@MrSchoenbart @mrnavas Get a team together. Make use of edcamp Foundation. Use a checklist to assign tasks and time frame. edcamps are 1/2

— brian fahey (@brianfahey61) July 21, 2015

@MrSchoenbart @mrnavas 2/2 unpredictable in the best way, but good organization is key. Would be happy to help you in any way. #edcamp

— brian fahey (@brianfahey61) July 21, 2015

@MrSchoenbart Hope you can make it too! Try to get at least one person at each school/district to spread the word. It definitely helps.

— Julie Jee (@mrsjjee) July 21, 2015

@MrSchoenbart @missraskin @iruntech @tinamonte @TheConnectedEdu take risks at Edcamp. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Connect!

— Jimmy Sapia (@mrsapia_teach) July 21, 2015

@MrSchoenbart @missraskin @iruntech @tinamonte @TheConnectedEdu share learning via Twitter, Google Docs, etc. Start a session.

— Jimmy Sapia (@mrsapia_teach) July 21, 2015

@MrSchoenbart get a team of volunteers together so you can divide the work. Share info through diff platforms to meet tchrs where they are

— Margaret A Powers (@mpowers3) July 21, 2015

This is part 5 in a series of posts about my first time trying #20Time Projects with my English 10 Students. In this post, I'll be sharing students' reflections and ideas about their work and the process. Find the previous posts here: Part 1: My Intro to 20 Time Projects, Part 2: Managing Student Workflow, and Part 3: What I'll Do Better Next Time, and Part 4: Sharing Student Products.

Advice for Students:

"I would tell students doing the 20Time project to make sure they plan ahead and start on their project immediately. I would also suggest that students have at least 2 backup experts instead of just one, just in case one of them falls through or they decide to alter their topic. In addition to these tips I would tell other students to pick their partners wisely; without their full support and/or ideas you may not get anywhere with your topic."