Teachers Teaching Teachers #214 - VoiceThread and Teaching the iGeneration after the BP Oil Spill - 08.18.10

Post-Show description: 

On this episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers, Steve Muth and Ben Papell founders and on-going co-conspirators at VoiceThread join Susan Ettenheim and Chris Sloan to talk about what’s new at VoiceThread AND how they can imagine VoiceThread supporting our efforts with http://voicesonthegulf.org.

In addition, Bill Ferriter, a sixth grade science teacher in North Carolina, joins us. Bill has just published a great book, Teaching the iGeneration. There are a lot great ideas in this new book, but there’s one that is perfect for a VoiceThread discussion: Collaborative vs. Competitive dialogue. In an email, Bill writes:

Collaborative and competitive dialogue is something I talk about in Teaching the iGeneration and something that VoiceThread facilitates nicely.  We could talk about how our world emphasizes competitive dialogue—-kids are surrounded by marketing messages and celebrities and politicians screaming for attention and unwilling to listen to other viewpoints——but collaborative dialogue is essential for solving the kinds of global, cross-border challenges our world is facing. 

Alicia Blair, a colleague and science teacher at an alternative school in Mississippi, and Gail Desler, who works with teachers in Northern California, join us as well. Alicia and Gail have been helping us to keep it real all summer.

Enjoy!

Click Read more to see a copy of the chat that was happening during the webcast.

20:51:01 SusanEttenheim: hi gail! can I call you in tonight?
20:51:10 SusanEttenheim: hi sandy - welcome!
20:51:22 SusanEttenheim: hi chris
20:51:30 chris sloan: hello
20:51:42 SusanEttenheim: anyone know bill ferriter's skype? :)
20:51:52 Gail Desler: Hi Susan, Sandy and I are together in Philly.
20:52:14 SusanEttenheim: ah think I have it
20:52:28 Gail Desler: So this will be my first TTT from a hotel bar;-)
20:52:50 Sandy Hayes: And woohoo!  I can finally make a TTT session!  Not a first, but almost!
20:53:25 chris sloan: Well, Gail and Sandy.  We'l expect plenty of enthusiasm from you two. Cheers!
20:53:51 Sandy Hayes: Remember, we are naturally enthusiastic
20:53:52 Gail Desler: Hello Chris. Wish you were here to sing for us
20:55:40 chris sloan: I'll hum a few bars
20:56:08 Gail Desler: Are you taking requests?
20:59:36 SusanEttenheim: welcome steve
20:59:43 SusanEttenheim: to the chatroom :)
20:59:56 SusanEttenheim: sandy welcome ! where and what do you teach?
21:00:10 SusanEttenheim: hi bill
21:00:22 SusanEttenheim: hi bp
21:00:23 Bill Ferriter: Hey Susan...
21:00:25 Steve Muth: Hi All :) happy to back
21:00:25 SusanEttenheim: welcome david
21:00:34 Sandy Hayes: I teach 8th grade English in Minnesota
21:00:37 David Pulling: hey, yall.
21:00:54 Gail Desler: Hi David.  Love your cajun music
21:00:55 SusanEttenheim: welcome sandy!
21:01:03 Sandy Hayes: I am so lucky to have met Gail (and Paul) at Technology Matters
21:01:03 SusanEttenheim: I used to live in St Paul
21:01:19 Sandy Hayes: What were you doing in St. Paul?
21:01:27 SusanEttenheim: haha ... living there.
21:01:34 SusanEttenheim: actually being an artist
21:01:51 SusanEttenheim: and working in the first 5 college consortium of libraries
21:02:06 SusanEttenheim: I printed at Hamline and lived near Lake Como!
21:02:08 Sandy Hayes: In what area did you live?
21:02:51 Sandy Hayes: What did you do with the library consortium?
21:03:07 Bill Ferriter: Here's my Voicethread resources: http://digitallyspeaking.pbworks.com/Voicethread
21:03:22 SusanEttenheim: thanks bill!
21:03:27 SusanEttenheim: hhi judith welcome!
21:03:55 SusanEttenheim: where and what do you teach?
21:04:02 Judith Epcke: Hi there! I think lots of folks are just finishing the Linda Darling-Hammond webinar so they'll be coming in a bit
21:04:09 SusanEttenheim: great!
21:04:19 Judith Epcke: I am a tech facilitator for a K-8 district in the Chicago suburbs
21:04:28 Judith Epcke: we have a district VT account and love it
21:04:38 SusanEttenheim: great and welcome!
21:04:38 Gail Desler: Thank you, Bill - and I will be sharing this great VT resource!
21:05:05 SusanEttenheim: sandy - I literally typed from the cards into the first online catalog!
21:05:14 Sandy Hayes: Bill, you are so generous.  I am doing a session on VoiceThread for our opening teacher workshop in two weeks.  THANK YOU!!!
21:06:09 Bill Ferriter: No sweat, Sandy...
21:06:21 Bill Ferriter: Here are a few more: http://go.solution-tree.com/technology/
21:06:54 Sandy Hayes: susan - I would have liked that job.  Typing is so relaxing.  But I wonder when (with resources like Dragon Dictation) it will make the Beloit Mindset list.  2025?
21:07:17 SusanEttenheim: hahahaha
21:07:55 Bill Ferriter: @judith:  My school is getting rid of ours---just a budget cut deal.
21:08:15 Sandy Hayes: Um, Bill, I think [u]you[/u] will really be the one presenting for me.  I will basically be the ventriloquist's dummy.
21:08:35 Judith Epcke: @bill that's a shame. We use it every grade K-8! Can think of other things I'd let go that are hardly used.
21:08:38 SusanEttenheim: but I must admit this was.... 1977 ;)
21:08:42 Gail Desler: Thank you again, Bill.  Chapter topics look wonderful. Will start exploring after tonight's session
21:08:58 Steve Muth: http://voicethread.com/groups/subscribe/20402/5f622f011/
21:10:08 chris sloan: One of my favorite VoiceThread examples was the Voices on Darfur.  http://ed.voicethread.com/#q.b62276.i322457
21:10:25 SusanEttenheim: yes yes!
21:11:10 SusanEttenheim: I want to twitter that but I'm broadcasting! afraid to budge... collaborative conversations vs competitive conversations!
21:11:16 SusanEttenheim: Hi DBragg - welcome!
21:11:35 DBragg: Hi Susan!
21:11:36 Gail Desler: Thanks, Steve - My first VT Group
21:12:11 Bill Ferriter: Today's challenges are cross-border.  They require collaborative conversations across borders.
21:12:33 Bill Ferriter: They will require collaborative solutions.
21:14:20 Judith Epcke: Somehow, Kindergartners get it. It gets more challenging, but not so difficult with older students
21:14:21 DBragg: You have to have the collaborative skills before you can teach it
21:14:42 SusanEttenheim: bill trying to call you back!
21:15:40 SusanEttenheim: bill .... where are you??????
21:16:34 Bill Ferriter: Trying to sign out and sign back in Susan...
21:16:45 SusanEttenheim: ok let us know as soon as you are ready!
21:16:57 SusanEttenheim: gail - which skkype name are you using tonight?
21:17:18 Gail Desler: Gail_Desler
21:17:56 Gail Desler: Susan - hope there won't be too much background noise from bar, lobby, etc
21:18:30 SusanEttenheim: can you mute when you're not talking?
21:18:33 SusanEttenheim: gail?
21:18:40 SusanEttenheim: great
21:19:02 Gail Desler: I'm on with you - with mute on
21:19:09 SusanEttenheim: yes great!
21:22:08 SusanEttenheim: yikes well, we lost bill but hopefully he'll be back soon!
21:22:12 Bill Ferriter: Hey Susan, Try my skype again....
21:22:20 SusanEttenheim: great!
21:23:18 Bill Ferriter: BTW:  Anyone can download a complete copy of my book for the next week.  It's a PDF so it isn't easy to read...and you can't print anything...but great for exploring.
21:23:23 SusanEttenheim: bill william.ferriter?
21:23:52 Bill Ferriter: wferriter
21:23:55 SusanEttenheim: k
21:24:09 Bill Ferriter: The link to the free download is availabe at the bottom of this post:  http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/the_tempered_radical/2010/08/upcoming-...
21:25:24 Bill Ferriter: For me, the biggest lesson for teachers is Voicethread is a GREAT tool for facilitating collaborative conversations, but it won't make good collaborative conversations possible on its own.
21:26:02 Bill Ferriter: Like any skill, you've got to teach collaborative behaviors.
21:27:03 Bill Ferriter: There are specific types of behaviors that we take in productive conversations...but kids aren't naturally aware of those behaviors. 
21:28:08 SusanEttenheim: hi bp where and what do you teach?
21:28:46 SusanEttenheim: david - hi where and where are you teaching?
21:30:47 SusanEttenheim: welcome back sandy!
21:31:28 SusanEttenheim: umm using the stat trackers - really real!
21:31:31 sandy hayes: sorry - fumbling around with a new computer and new media.  Always a stretch.. . and great fun
21:31:35 Gail Desler: Sandy is getting a delayed audio
21:31:46 SusanEttenheim: gail everyone does
21:31:53 SusanEttenheim: skype is a little ahead of the stream
21:32:08 sandy hayes: Gail is always a step ahead!
21:32:22 Gail Desler: ah, thanks, Susan
21:32:42 Judith Epcke: The data trackers are extremely motivating. I saw a group of 2nd graders light up when they saw how others were reading their blogs
21:33:26 Bill Ferriter: Digital tools give kids the chance to raise their voices...They're on equal footing in a digital world with anyone as long as the messages they craft are polished.
21:33:37 Judith Epcke: And makes it easy to share with the world...
21:34:24 Bill Ferriter: Kids can't take significant action on important issues---but they can raise awarness and voice.  That's powerful in today's world. 
21:35:16 Judith Epcke: @bill or offer their perspective, ideas, thoughts which, as you say, is powerful and empowering
21:36:15 Bill Ferriter: Kids also love having their own thoughts challenged---they enjoy pushback because it forces them to polish their thoughts.
21:36:22 Judith Epcke: Interesting, our kids seem to get that they are speaking to the world. Have not yet had to censor any inappropriate comments from students or others
21:36:53 Bill Ferriter: @judith---me neither.  Very few inappropriate comments appear in VTs that I use.
21:37:31 Gail Desler: @Bill - I know that somewhere you posted ways for students to respectfully disagree,, no?
21:38:18 Bill Ferriter: Yup...there are comment templates and language types in my documents here:  http://digitallyspeaking.pbworks.com
21:38:55 Gail Desler: A great resource, Bill
21:44:19 SusanEttenheim: ahh thank you bill!
21:45:32 SusanEttenheim: ok you're all listening so well! what do you want to ask/comment? chime in!
21:45:44 SusanEttenheim: some thoughts? challenges?
21:46:11 SusanEttenheim: sandy, david, dbragg... bp - what are you thinking?
21:48:11 sandy hayes: Showing how these rich activities address multiple standards can be very convincing -- I wish more standards themselves reflected the depth that communication and creating tools can add to content and skills.
21:48:27 SusanEttenheim: how true sandy!
21:48:39 SusanEttenheim: have you used Voice Thread? examples?
21:48:45 SusanEttenheim: what have your experiences been?
21:48:46 chris sloan: http://voicesonthegulf.com/discussion/oil-spill-julia-3rd-grade
21:48:57 chris sloan: an example
21:49:07 DBragg: I've been thinking about how to teach how to collaborate in my situation - team work and school pride are not high priorities among students
21:49:55 SusanEttenheim: ummm dbragg .... someone?
21:49:58 SusanEttenheim: thoughts?
21:52:09 DBragg: Like I have mini-lessons to reinforce some applicable curricula specific concepts, I think we could do several short collaborative activities and build on them.
21:52:41 sandy hayes: I've admired VoiceThread collaborations and wanted to do them, but haven't gotten my act together -- there are so many worthwhile and exciting opportunity competing for time -- and unfortunately, the reality is that there are also some less compelling but compulsory tasks crowding out the time. 
21:52:53 Bill Ferriter: @dbragg :  Keep looking for a topic that your kids care deeply about and they'll work together in teams times ten.
21:53:02 Gail Desler: @DBragg - can you tell a little about your teaching situation
21:53:57 Gail Desler: Sandy has lost sound
21:54:10 DBragg: Gail, I'm an FCS (aka Home Economics) teacher in Allentown, PA.  I teach cooking and parenting.
21:54:50 SusanEttenheim: everyone else.. do you have sound?
21:55:01 DBragg: I have sound
21:55:05 SusanEttenheim: ok thanks
21:55:12 sandy hayes: Mine has been loading (Real Player) for quite a while.
21:55:17 SusanEttenheim: hummm gail what do you think happened?
21:55:31 SusanEttenheim: hummm could be a local lag ?
21:55:34 Gail Desler: OK, DBragg, thinking about that ....food
21:58:44 Bill Ferriter: Cool...glad I could help!
22:00:21 Gail Desler: Bill's blog = http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/the_tempered_radical/
22:00:38 chris sloan: http://voicesonthegulf.com/discussion/sample-parent-permission-letter
22:01:13 Bill Ferriter: I'l be Monty Python
22:01:37 Bill Ferriter: I'm really thankful for you non-educators who are putting great tools together.
22:01:43 Gail Desler: Ben & Steve are heroes to educators
22:01:49 Bill Ferriter: It's hard to believe you're not educators, Ben and Steve...
22:01:57 SusanEttenheim: but they are great storytellers and isn't that what education is really about?
22:02:09 Bill Ferriter: Kids love that "more human-ness" about who you are.
22:02:38 SusanEttenheim: they tell stories about family histories and those histories actually are the chapters of the history books
22:03:27 SusanEttenheim: ahh the Metropolitan Museum uses Voice Thread for training teachers at the Met!
22:05:08 DBragg: night all!
22:05:40 Gail Desler: Night everyone