Sad day: Two Kindles damaged. Now what?

Posted on by Mark Isero

sad facefavicon It’s a sad day at the Kindle Classroom Project.

I have confirmed that two Kindles in the San Francisco classroom are no longer working because their screens have been damaged. Because the devices are more than one year old, they are no longer under warranty, so Amazon will not replace them.

My partner teacher has asked the students if they dropped the Kindles or exposed them to pressure or liquid. Both said they treated their device with care and always used a case. It is possible, of course, that the students are not telling the truth, maybe because they’re scared. Or maybe they stuffed their Kindle inside an overpacked bag or dropped their backpack. Amazon representatives have repeated that the screens’ horizontal and vertical lines do not occur without misuse.

I am bummed. This is a big setback. We’re down to 42 Kindles.

More troubling, it is difficult to figure out what happened. Is this a fluke? Is this a case of improper training by the teacher? Or negligence by the students? Or a combination?

(Up until this incident, one Kindle has been damaged since the project’s founding in 2010.)

I’ll try to figure out what happened, but for right now, I instructed the teacher to collect all the Kindles and to suspend the project until I determine next steps.

I understand that loaning out Kindles to ninth graders does present some risk, and I probably should allow for the loss of one or two Kindles per year. In fact, I’m thinking of saving some money to replace broken or damaged devices.

But what should I do now? I welcome your thoughts to these questions:

  1. How do I find out what really happened?
  2. Should I cancel the San Francisco classroom or give its teacher and students another chance?
  3. What are some ways to make sure this doesn’t happen again?
  4. Should I order replacement Kindles ($47.20 each) for the broken ones?

Please let me know what you think! favicon

issues in education/teaching

Is it OK for high school teachers to text students directly?

Posted on by Mark Isero

20110305-220630-pic-55603229favicon We all know that the best way to communicate with students is by texting them. After all, teenagers don’t email, and they’re definitely not going to answer the phone or go on the computer to check a teacher’s class website.

But is there a line? When does texting become too much or too close?

This year, I’ve heard a mild backlash from some parents, who say that teachers have become too lax with their texting habits. One Oakland parent told me, “I just don’t think it’s proper for my daughter to get so many texts from her male teacher. They’re non-stop.”

Last year, I was a huge proponent of texting. For example, my students texted me their homework. I reminded them of their assignments. I cheerleaded and cajoled.

And now, I must say, I’m having second thoughts. Here is my current thinking:

1. Texting should be infrequent and for important reasons.
Too many texts can make the teacher come across as a creeper or as too much of a friend. It might be confusing to students. Texts for informational purposes only (e.g., reminders to turn in field trip forms) do not encourage students to be accountable. The best texts, I think, are for individual students to send a message of care or concern or congratulation.

2. Parents need to know and sign off on the communication.
My advisees’ parents always appreciated my texts and thanked me for my involvement in their child’s life. But that’s because they knew me, trusted me, and understood how I worked. An essential step for teachers is to make clear in your syllabus your methods of communication.

What do you think? How about participating in the first-ever Iserotope poll? (Beware: This fancy poll syncs up with Facebook and Twitter, but you can also vote anonymously.)

[socialpoll id=”6982″]

Let’s see how this poll turns out. Also, share your thoughts in the comments. What should teachers know and think about when texting their students? favicon

reading/teaching/technology

Using Pocket in the classroom to promote nonfiction reading

Posted on by Mark Isero

pocketfavicon I read tons of nonfiction (see Iserotope Extras), and as a teacher, I want to encourage my students to read tons of nonfiction.

The new Common Core State Standards agree with my approach.

But up until yesterday, I couldn’t quite find the best and easiest way to incorporate nonfiction into my classroom with my students.

Diigo is a great service, but it hasn’t been updated for a long time, plus it takes a lot of investment to set it up with students. Snip.it was great until Yahoo bought it. And Google Reader is shuttering soon as well. What is an English (or social studies, or science, or any) teacher to do?

Yesterday, Pocket, which lets you save content to read later, announced a major new feature: Send to Friend. Before yesterday, if you wanted to share an article with another person, you could email the article, but your friend would have to read it directly from his or her inbox or forward it, somewhat clumsily, into their Pocket.

No more! Now you can send an article directly from your Pocket to your friend’s Pocket, plus you can add a personal note. No more middle step of going through your friend’s email inbox.

So what does this all have to do with building a community of nonfiction readers in your classroom? Sure, there are other ways for students to share articles, but Pocket works easily and intuitively on phones, which students love. That’s crucial.

Here are a couple ways teachers can try Pocket out:

1. Share a class Pocket account.
You create an account and share the login and password information with students. When students find a particularly interesting article, they Pocket it to the account. In class, you read one of the articles as a whole group, or you give students the option of reading any of the articles in the queue.

I would recommend this as a first step so your students can become familiar with finding good articles, Pocketing them, and building an enthusiasm for reading. Once that happens, you can choose to move to Step 2.

2. Create and build individual student accounts.
When students have their own Pocket accounts, they have more ownership about what they’re reading. They’re more likely to Pocket articles they care about. Pocket even allows you to favorite articles, so students can keep ones they find particularly interesting.

Also, with individual accounts, students can use the Send to Friend feature. They can send an article to a peer or to the class account. Groups of students with similar interests can trade articles. Once recommended articles get shared around, you’ll likely see a nonfiction reading buzz gain traction.

I haven’t yet heard of teachers who are using Pocket with their students to promote nonfiction reading. Are there any of you out there? If so, let me know. Even if you’re not currently using Pocket, it would be great to know if you think Pocket could work in your classroom. favicon

More good press for the Kindle Classroom Project!

Posted on by Mark Isero

KYG

favicon I am very pleased to report that the Kindle Classroom Project has received more good press.

My very good friend Iris, whom I have known for many years (wow, since high school!), wrote a kind blog post on her professional website. Check it out!

I am very appreciative. Thank you, Iris.

Iris is a life coach and the owner of Know Your Greatness Coaching. She coaches people to live their best lives — how to challenge your perfectionism and other challenging habits, how to get unstuck and realize your greatness, and how to make a bigger impact in the world.

I’ve participated in a few coaching sessions with Iris, and I am very impressed. She helped me get through a personal challenge and made action steps manageable to take. Iris even followed up with me to check in and track my progress!

In addition to her skilled coaching, Iris is a consistent and committed supporter of the Kindle Classroom Project. She has donated multiple Kindles to the project and has gotten the word out to friends, which has yielded even more Kindles. It’s heartwarming to know that Iris is looking out for me and for the reading lives of my students.

I can’t wait to see if Iris’s post encourages additional people to donate Kindles to the Kindle Classroom Project. Even if it does not bring in more Kindles, I am grateful for the positive publicity. The word is getting out! favicon

reading/teaching

Want to get to know your readers? Ask these 3 questions.

Posted on by Mark Isero

readerfavicon The first step of any strong independent reading program is to do a preliminary diagnostic of your students and their reading skills and interests.

Many schools invest in online or paper assessments to determine students’ grade-level equivalent. Many teachers give out reading inventory surveys for their students to complete.

Both of those are good ideas. I do them.

But this year, I’ve found out that it’s pretty easy to figure out the reading lives of students. Here are my three quick-and-easy questions:

1. What are you reading now?
2. What was the last book you read?
3. What book would you like to read next?

Yep, that’s it! In about 30 seconds, I can find out a lot of information.

Question #1 separates the avid readers from the rest. If the student has an answer to the first question, I’m ecstatic. I won’t ever have to worry about him or her. All I have to do is make sure he or she has access to a Kindle or a library. (About 10 percent of students have an answer.)

Question #2 is where it starts getting interesting. If the student answers within a few seconds, and if the answer isn’t something like Clifford the Dog, then the student is a regular reader. Too many teacher-assigned texts have likely sapped this student’s interest in reading, but independent reading will soon turn that around. My move is to make sure this student has one or two good books in a row to read, and then everything will be fine.

On the other hand, if the student has trouble answering, or doesn’t remember, or reveals that he or she has never read a book before, then the student is a reluctant reader. (Some teachers prefer the term “emerging reader.”) I write this student’s name down. After all, no regular English class with whole-class novels and nonfiction articles will change this student’s relationship to reading. Independent reading could work, but only if I do a good job building a relationship with the student, finding out more about his or her interests, assessing reading skill gaps, and vigorously following up on them.

Question #3 is my favorite because it gets at the student’s interests. If the student is a regular or reluctant reader, who hasn’t read in a while, specific titles of books are hard to come by. That’s OK. I ask him or her what kinds of books he or she would like to read.

Usually, though, the student does come up with an answer. And the answers are very revealing.

Just two weeks ago, when the Kindle Classroom Project expanded to its second classroom, I asked the students Question #3. Here is what some of them said:

my bloody life  life in prison  child called it  goosebumps

Alex: My Bloody Life: The Making of a Latin King, by Reymundo Sanchez
Johnny: Life in Prison, by Stanley “Tookie” Williams
Brianna: A Child Called It, by Dave Pelzer
Mariyah: Goosebumps, by R.L. Stine.

So, what would you be able to notice? And what would you ask next? For Alex, Johnny, Brianna, and Mariyah, what would be your next move? favicon