Another beautiful day at the NCTE convention in Orlando, Florida. Roses are blooming, and we have time to appreciate them as we move from room to room or take a shuttle to another building for one amazing presentation after another.
This morning I spoke with Marjorie Larner and Don Proffit of the Asia Society, an organization dedicated to international education. We had a great discussion about how to set up rubrics for multimedia projects that find a middle ground between the minimum expectations of the classroom (“The presentation uses good grammar.”) and the indicators of a common core standard. They have some great ideas that they will be unveiling soon.
I also enjoyed a presentation by John Schilb and his team on new ways to approach “old” texts. Among many gems in that session was Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog, a springboard to discussing common points between Chaucer’s world and today.
The Tech-to-Go Kiosks, organized by Sara Kajder and now in their third year, continued to be tremendously popular, with teachers crowding around for some one-to-one technical discussion. The number of presentations at the convention that are related to technology integration has increased, but nothing beats a chance to just talk an idea through with someone who has been there. I’m looking forward to my own presentations tomorrow; one in the morning on Moodle, and one in the afternoon on digital video/podcasting.
Lea Ann Spillane at the Tech-to-go Kiosk
In the afternoon the team that published Lesson Plans for Developing Digital Literacies presented a collection of teacher-developed and teacher-tested unit plans that develop communication skills and critical thinking. Approach Macbeth as a mystery? Use a Ning social network to assist with formal research? Wikipedia is not the enemy (and here’s why)? Sounds good to me: I picked up a copy of the book at the NCTE booth on my way out.
Teaching critical thinking with Wikipedia.
The Exhibit Hall was its usual vibrant collection of books, posters, tote bags, and authors signing their works. I was happy to visit with Carey and Jan Cook of My Vocabulary.com, a resource that has undergone a major overhaul in the past few months, and with the people at Townsend Press. They have expanded their popular Bluford Series to 15 titles and have added a Teacher Guide to their lineup. The Bluford books are designed for reluctant high school readers and priced for schools with tight budgets. They would be a great resource for differentiating instruction.
Climb Inside a Poem by Georgia Heard
More tomorrow!
