My Use of Technology in our Curriculum at Suffield Academy

Below are three reasons why I use technology in my English curriculum. I have highlighted in bold red text the specific software that we used for the particular task; click on the links for student examples.

In the spring of 2002, I received a laptop grant from Suffield Academy; the Computer Science department supported me with a new Mac iBook to help me use technology more deliberately and productively in my classes. I began to teach all my students to maintain their own web page in the fall of 2002. Teaching students to set up a basic web page only requires requires one thirty minute September time slot; interestingly, these student web pages grow quickly and individual student voices emerge. These student pages also endure as electronic portfolios.

Explore and Emphasize the Writing Process

• I have students use Inspiration Software (click here to see its full potential) to diagram some of their larger essays. Interestingly, one can diagram an idea and then click a button to make a formal outline; one can also start the process by creating a formal roman numeral outline and then click a button to create various types of diagrams, and arrange your ideas into all shapes of flow charts. Here's an outline for an essay on Realism in Henry James' Daisy Miller.
• I have students write journal responses as a way into helping them discover their learning style. Click here to read several literacy memoirs where students where asked to relate their earliest memories of reading. Sharing these stories with fellow students and builds an interesting classroom community; it also enables me to help them learn more about themselves. These examples were made using basic elements of Dreamweaver: In That Green Room; Nighttime Reading.
• We wanted to capture senior wisdom in the Writing Center; click here to see and hear a Quicktime Movie made from Mac's I-Movie software. A senior tutor explains the seven phases of our vision of a writing conference.

Interdisciplinary Connections

• During our study of American Romanticism, students were assigned to use Microsoft PowerPoint to find other examples from the nineteenth century world of art and culture. Click on these names and their projects will download on your computer. Maggie's; Eileen's; Koichiro's; Jake's.
• Unplanned interdisciplinary connection: I discovered that two of my students researched the Lowell Factory system and made a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation; while we were beginning Sarah Orne Jewett's A Country Doctor, they then presented some related points to our understanding of the character, Adeline, who works in the Lowell factory. Click here for the download.
• Use of basic web page software, Dreamweaver, to host interdisciplinary projects. In the last two years, I rarely bring in interdisciplinary things because inevitably one of my students will find the painting that I was thinking of bringing. Needless to say, students are making more meaningful connections now that they are invested in the process. Click here for a page that catalogues a student making connections to several topics in US History, a story of a strong female character in her family as well as vocabulary words extracted from other classes. In the future, I am interested in having students use the Audio Recorder software and some basic oral history methods to create vignettes of family history.

Brain Based Conference Click here for the link to the conference that I have been attending regularly.

I have learned so much from these conferences, and each time I read brain research material directed towards helping educators, I refuel my creativity tank and brainstorm new technology assignments that will help students foster long term memory. If we all remember that the hippocampus is the place in the brain stores long term memory, then we as teachers must wonder how can we set up assignments and activities (besides field trips) that access that region on a regular basis. As more brain research shows that the hippocampus only functions when one is calm and stimulated, teachers should also ask what environment, atmosphere and assignemtns encourage meaningful moments for long term memory building. Moreover, brain research also shows in many ways how the brain loves to discard meaningless information and make patterns and connections with important material. With this in mind, I think that structured technology assignment can become fascinating ways for students to engage with the curriculum and build personal projects that will encourage students to know more about each other in class. Thus, I try to create assignments that have my students marinate a curricular piece with personal, cultural and historic connections. Then, when we share each other's pages, this process also helps create an atmosphere where students care about each other and are comfortable taking risks.

• Use of Audio Recorder to have students record poetry from our curriculum and post it on their web pages. I realized recently that most students are very efficient with their I-pods and mp3 players. I then found a program that easily records in a few simple steps and saves the file as an mp3. After we wrote analytical projects, I then had students go back and record their favorite poem of Whitman and Dickinson: Carolyn's; Jake's; Phil's; Koichiro's;
• Use of Inspiration Software to present characters from Sarah Orne Jewett's A Country Doctor. Click here to see a student made diagram showing the major and minor characters connected to the main character, Nan.
• Use of Flash, a component of MacroMedia, to have students visualize their favorite poem from American literature. These complex projects also included an mp3 file of students reciting the poem. Click here for Poe's Annabel Lee; T.S.Eliot's Hippopotamus;
• Use of basic web page software, Dreamweaver, to host a personal story about a strong female character from family history to add an emotional context to our understanding nineteenth century strong female characters and their cultural struggles. Click here for Surpassing the Glass Ceiling.
• Use of Mac's I-Movie to make a Quicktime Movie; this movie established a positive field trip culture. We went on a walking tour of Amherst and visited Emily Dickinson Homestead in 2001; when we returned in 2002, students knew what to expect and more engaged because of seeing the film. We made two films that year because students submitted audio suggestions and it was a split vote among the classes as to which song to use as a backdrop; listen carefully because the lyrics and sound work well for both: Version A and Version B. We went again this fall in 2003, and it was so cold that the film in the camera froze.
• I also use mp3 files of poets reading their poetry to bring our work alive. Check out the poetry out loud page.

Evaluating Technology Projects

In my expectations page for each year, I specify for students what percentage of their grade stems from technology assignments. I will often email the students directions for each step of a project and then demonstrate in class these steps with a volunteer (usually someone uncomfortable with technology) in the driving seat, which is our technical term for the person whose computer is projecting on the white board. When we finish an important or interesting project, I have students help me with evaluations. I will have students establish a grading rubric and criteria, which usually blends design with content. Then, I will have everyone call up his or her web page on the computer in front of them, and then we will wander around the room and view classmates' web pages as if we were in an art gallery. Sometimes soft background music and finger food help create this atmosphere.

Beyond the classroom: below are two pages from students of last year. They are currently using their English Page from last year to host additional projects from this year.

• Erin's page: Biology II and Digital Art projects.
• Mallory's page: Latin American studies addition.
• Adam's page: click on his link Broken Tree Films to see his snow boarding movies.

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