A Kid’s Eye View of an Innovative Classroom

8/14/2019 A Kids Eye View of an Innovative Classroom

1/65

A Kids Eye View of anInnovative Classroom

Adora Svitak

. .www adorasvitak com


2/65

Introduction

lBACKGROUND: Ive been teachingwriting workshops since Ipublished my first book at age

seven.l

lTV SHOWS: Ive been featured on

Oprah, CNNs Young People WhoRock, NBC Nightly News, and lotsof other programs.

l


3/65

Introductioncontinued

lPROGRAMS: My presentationsfeature live writingdemonstrations, interactive

activities, and storytelling. Mysocial studies workshops teachkids (and teachers) how to use

writing as a creative learning toolacross disciplines. I provide kidswith a tangible and excitingexample of where writing cantake them.


4/65

lToday, I use new technology, likevideoconferencing and Elluminatewebinars, to reach students in

places as diverse as Costa Rica,Dubai, and Canada.


5/65

My Goals

lAll of my presentations centeraround a common goalto showkids that writing is ,

l

,and

EMPOWERINGEMPOWERINGFu

nFu

n

Exciting!


6/65

lI can easily customize mypresentations to make themrelevant to higher grades, like high

school level students, younger kids,from kindergarten to third grade,and special education students.

llWe welcome any advance info from

teachers or coordinators aboutstudent levels or other relevantto ics.


7/65

l

lToday Im here to give you a kidseye perspective on how toempower students withtechnology. Ill be talking to youfrom the perspective of a student

and a teacher.l


8/65

Learning

Learning


9/65

l ,T o te a ch I irst thinkbout what isnteresting to me as a.earner

l


10/65

lWhat makes

learning specialfor me?


11/65

l

l

I like being able to usewhat I learn.


12/65

lFacts seem more relevant to

me when I incorporate

them into a creative

project.The vendors gathered around theThe vendors gathered around the

Colosseum.Colosseum.


13/65

lIn find it easier to process new

information if I am reading for

inspiration, or looking for ideas toinclude in stories, poems, or blog

entries.


14/65

lIf I have a creative project in mind

when I read, I have a greater sense

of purpose. Instead of readingsomething because my teacher told

me to read it, Im looking for

information that will be useful formy purposes--details or ideas I can

incorporate into my project.


15/65

lWhen I am reading with intent, I

evaluate each new piece of

information more carefully. I thinkabout how I can incorporate it into

my story, poem, or other project.


16/65

WritetoLearn

WritetoLearn

Ideas

Ideas


17/65

l

lWrite about a current event in

the first person. Write about

the same event from twodifferent perspectives. (This

activity works with historicalevents as well.)


18/65

l

lChoose a topic you want to

become an expert in, and createweekly blog posts about the

things you learn.


19/65

l

lWrite poems that represent new

vocabulary words and then haveyour classmates guess which

word inspired the poem.


20/65

Insolent

She would not listen, simplyscreamed

While others stared in shock;She put her mother in the pantryLocking every lock;


21/65

She did not do her sums at allShe made fun of her aunt

Whenever asked to do something,Her favorite word was "can't."


22/65

She would have continuedIf she hadn't packed her trunk

And set sail on a caravelWhich promptly sunk.

l

l


23/65

lWriting to learn inspires me to

l

write more on my own.


24/65

l

lAnother thing that really inspires me

is when my teachers participate in acreative project.

l


25/65

TEACHING


26/65

When you participate, it

lets students know that you

arent just expecting them

to shareyoure willing to

share yourself.


27/65

Before students tackleBefore students tackle

projects on their own,projects on their own,

collaborative groupcollaborative group

writing is a good waywriting is a good way

to demonstrate newto demonstrate new concepts.concepts.


28/65

After giving a basic definition

of the concept, I will

demonstrate the concept in awrite-along activity.


29/65

lThere are so many newtechnological tools available forcollaborative writingGoogle

Documents, Microsoft Word, and,of course, Elluminate!


30/65

lTo show you what I mean by this, letspretend that youre students. Together,were going to do a descriptive writing

activity about a tree house. Ill ask yousome questions along the way.


31/65


32/65

Kids love gross stuff

l

(although a few may notadmit it).


33/65

When I teach, I exploit the

gross factor to get kids

interested.


34/65

Essentially, I try to utilize thingsthat naturally excite kids, such as make-

believe, food, gross stuff, weird stuff,

the chance to be in control, fun visuals,

video, and technology.


35/65

I incorporate these elements into my

teaching in order to make the

connection between excitement andlearning.


36/65

l I also ask kids lots of questions in mypresentations to get them thinkingabout the topic that were focusing on.For instance, in a slide about child

labor, I would ask students whetherthey considered themselves childlaborers.

l

l In a slide about conflict and obstacle, Imight ask the kids about someconflicts and obstacles they have

faced.


37/65

TechnologyTechnology


38/65

If it werent for technology,

I would not be here

teaching today.


39/65

Technology sparked

my love for writing.


40/65

l

lWhen I was six, my mom bought me a

used laptop, and suddenly a wholeworld opened up to me. Instead of

laboring over a few lines, I could

write pages and pages each day.


41/65

Spell-check allowed me to learn

spelling independently; the synonyms

option allowed me to expand myvocabulary independently; being able

to write with ease got me excited

about writing and propelled my desireto achievewhich also meant spending

time perfecting my ability to write by

hand.


42/65

lTechnology allows me to

reach a wider audience.


43/65

Elluminate allows

me to reach out toyou.


44/65

lTo show you how technologyactually helps me make mylessons, here are sample pages

from some of my presentations.The first is on personal narrativewriting, and the second is on child

labor.


45/65

We face conflicts and obstaclesevery day.

For example: deciding what to wear,arguing with a friend, running tocatch a bus, taking a test, learninghow to cook, trying to concentrate,trying to make a basket, overcoming afear


46/65

Are you a child laborer?Are you a child laborer?

Most of us have to do chores athome. Do you do chores at home?

Tell us what some of those chores

are.

Do you consider yourself a child

laborer or not?


47/65

lAs you might notice, there were lotsof interesting visuals, like clip art,in the slides that I showed you. Ilove to use relevant art to get kidsexcited about my presentations.

lI also use a variety of other funtools, like action buttons, color

coding, and AutoShapes to spiceup my presentations.


48/65

You can use fun Elluminatetools, like writing on the

board, clip art, and pointericons in your presentations.


49/65

lI have a reciprocal

relationship with

technologyit gives me

the opportunity to learn

and then share what I

learn with other people.


50/65

lOnly when we pay

attention to how welearn can we really

know how to teach.


51/65

Frequently AskedQuestions

With Adora Svitak

www.adorasvitak.com
http://www.adorasvitak.com/http://www.adorasvitak.com/


52/65

52

Q: How would you help

students combat a fear of

writing?


53/65

lWhen students first start out, I trynot to focus on rules quite asmuch. A lot of kids worry that

what they are writing is notcorrect.

l

lIn the beginning, I focus on funwriting topics.


54/65

lFor each new topic, I ask a lot ofquestions to help students comeup with things to write about. (For

example: What did it look like?How big was it?)

lI try to praise students for each new

achievement without pointing outtoo many flaws.


55/65

lOnce kids get excited about writing,they will be more receptive tolearning rules of writing.

l

lA kid who identifies as a soccerplayer will want to get better at

soccer. Kids who identify aswriters are the same way.

l


56/65

lA lot of students have trouble withreally open ended assignmentsso I still give them guidelines.

l

lThe trick is to be specific, but not tobe alarmed if students write

something a little off topic.


57/65

Q: How do you help students

make their writinginteresting?


58/65

lIts important to help themunderstand that writing isrelevant. When students can

publish their work and receivefeedback, they begin to seewriting as a path toward

recognition.


59/65

lI use paths like blogging to givewriting a greater sense ofrelevance. Students who publish

their writing get a greater senseof accomplishment--instead of

just disappearing after it is

written, their writing is on displayand its something they can beproud of.


60/65

lIf blogging doesnt work for aclassroom, I check out Web sitesthat allow students to publish

their examples online.


61/65

lAllowing students to write aboutgross topics or funny topics isanother good way to get students

excited about writing. I could askthem to describe a disgustingmeal or ask them to imagine what

would happen if the classroom petsuddenly grew to 100 times itsnormal size.


62/65

lI also take a cross-disciplinaryapproach and have students writecreatively about a topic they are

studying in history or science.


63/65

lIf students are studying the CivilWar, I could have them write fromthe point of view of a Civil War

spy. Writing creatively andincorporating new facts into theirwriting will help them come to a

deeper understanding of thesubject, and gain a sense ofownership over the subject andwriting itself.


64/65

lIt will also help them rememberfacts. Writing seems morerelevant if it ties into their

learning and helps them do betterin other subject areas.

T L M


65/65

To Learn More

About the author:Visit www.adorasvitak.com

About the programs:Visit www.cilc.org(search Adora)

Or contact us.
http://www.adorasvitak.com/http://www.cilc.org/http://www.cilc.org/http://www.adorasvitak.com/

A Kid’s Eye View of an Innovative Classroom

Documents

Transcript of A Kid’s Eye View of an Innovative Classroom