Using Prezi to Develop Disciplined and Synthesizing Minds

Prezi and the Disciplined and Synthesizing Mind

On the Move...a prezi by Laura Trimarco http://prezi.com/ru4oyy7qntsk/on-the-move/

The Disciplined Mind

Plato: “Through education we need to help students find pleasure in what they have to learn.” (Gardner, 2007)

           The “prezi” format sets that up perfectly. It is difficult to imagine ANY subject matter being interminably boring as the ideas literally bounce across the page…keeping the learner’s entire being engaged and intrigued by the topic. What’s coming next? Can I predict the next slide? Will I be surprised? Will it be a video? Will it be a fun task? The possibilities are endless, and the unexpected nature of the format keeps learners on their toes as they explore the topic at hand. Prezi is just plain playful and fun…and at its heart, that is what learning SHOULD be.

          Prezi is the quintessential opportunity to provide “multiple entry points” for the exploration of a single discipline. “Playing” within the prezi compels the learner to momentarily disengage from one treatment of the content, then quickly re-engage the content, quite literally, from a different angle. It provides a little “brain break” as it moves through the program. A learner doesn’t get bored by slogging through the same-old-same-old of a linear presentation. The mind does not have time to “wander” off-topic. Many different learning styles and multiple intelligences can be seamlessly woven through the presentation. It is possible to put something for everyone within a well-crafted product.

           As a creator of a prezi, a person needs to identify the truly important topics or concepts within the content (Gardner, 2007).  Prezi flashes are short, sweet, and blissfully to the point. If a teacher wanted to create a fun, interactive method of reviewing important content prior to an exam, this would be a great tool. For that matter…it rather lends itself to a fun self-testing format…get a question…flash to the answer.

The Synthesizing Mind

           To construct this, my first, prezi, I synthesized an encyclopedia of information. For me, it was mostly a matter of putting together my rudimentary  technological skills for something I perceived as “quite advanced.” I realized I’d been waiting to understand all the programming that goes into embedding a video, creating an audio, etc. I finally realized that that IS rocket science, and I’m not accountable for it…I just need to push the ignition button, do a little steering, and I’m okay. I had to think about which elements would best be presented in which format. That took some critical thinking. I had to pick and choose the content I wanted to include. As fun as prezi is, it’s difficult to imagine spending a LONG time bouncing around a screen. If I had to do all those things to create a prezi, my students will have to do all of those things to create their OWN prezis…and that will take some POWERFUL synthesizing and critical-thinking skills. Prezi can build synthesis in both the “playing” side AND the creation side of the learning transaction. In short, I’m hooked.

Gardner, Howard. (2007). Five minds for the future. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Using Digital Media to Scaffold the Development of "Synthesis" in Young Students

At its most basic level, synthesis is essentially combining two or more summaries (Jamieson, 1999). Synthesizing most likely needs to be modeled and directly taught for most students, particularly young ones (Gardner, 2007). For these young students, even writing a basic summary is a relatively high-level task, so introducing synthesis to their repertoire will require significant scaffolding. Recently, we used the web-based mind-mapping program “bubbl.us” to plan persuasive writing pieces. The students absolutely loved using this tool, and became very adept at it very quickly. 

My initial “synthesizing” work with third graders would use bubbl.us. We would begin with two engaging and related non-fiction pieces—Dorling Kindersley’s Amazing Bats, and Ranger Rick Life Science Series: Bats! Starting small, we would begin with a single, basic inquiry question such as: What do bats eat?

The initial map might look something like this:

The students would gather facts from each source...then, using the program, connect the similar facts. It would be visual and kinesthetic, and the kids would be highly motivated simply by using this easy and fun program. After constructing the mind-map, we would use interactive writing to construct a synthesis paragraph that wove information from two sources into one informational text. We would gradually transition from group writing, to partner writing, to individual writing. As we became more and more proficient, we could add a third resource. All of this would transfer directly into content-related research and writing required throughout the year. It would also reinforce note-taking and, optimally, transfer over time into students “synthesizing” with a degree of independence and automaticity. 

  

Cole, Ron (1997). Bats!  New York. New York. Doubleday Book and Music Clubs. 

        Retrieved from: http://www.amazon.com/Bats-Ranger-Science-Spectacular-Series

Gardner, Howard. (2007). Five minds for the future. Boston: Harvard Business School 

         Press.

Greenaway, Frank (1991). Amazing bats. New York. Alfred A. Knopf

Jamieson, Sandra (1999). Drew University on-line resources for writers. Retrieved from:

        http://www.users.drew.edu/~sjamieso/Synthesis.htm

LKCollab, LLC (n.d.). bubbl.us. Retrieved from: https://bubbl.us/

Using Discovery Education Video to Enhance Student Engagement

To meet our “Life Science” standards, our third grade will be participating in the “Journey North” project. Knowing that our students already have some basic schema about eggs, chickens, caterpillars, and butterflies, we decided to spice things up a bit and focus more on the role migration plays in the life cycles of various animals. The monarch migration is especially compelling, and participating in the cross-cultural exchange of “Journey North” also helps address some of our geography standards, as well as our quest for teaching with a more global perspective. We are going to meld National Geographic “Great Migrations,” “Journey North,” “Discovery Education,” and other resources to bring the content “to life.”

As the “entry event” for our project, called “On the Move,” we will watch the Discovery Education video, “From Milkweed to Mexico:”

http://player.discoveryeducation.com/?blnPreviewOnly=1&guidAssetId=801a32bb-f0e8-4476-9c0d-3d2267818fed,

segments 3, 4, and 5. Following this, we will create a large paper monarch that we will mail to a classroom in Mexico located near the forests where the monarchs complete stage 1 of their life cycle (Journey North, 2012). The digital component of this entry event will capitalize on the visual strengths that learners bring to the classroom. Good videos really hook my kids into the content…almost ANY content is exciting for them in this format. This entry activity that combines engaging video and the symbolic migration art project will serve as a great kick-off for our year-long exploration. As the year goes on, we will add the migratory habits of marine mammals, Christmas Island red crabs, wildebeests, Sand Hill cranes, robins…eventually extending the study to include the migration of human populations.

Annenberg Learner. (2007-2012). Journey north. A global study of wildlife migration 

         and  seasonal change. Retrieved from: http://www.learner.org/jnorth

National Geographic Society. (2010). Great migrations. Retrieved from:

          http://www.nationalgeographic.com

TV Ontario (Producer).  (1994). World of nature: monarch butterfly: milkweed to Mexico.

         [Full Video].  Available from http://www.discoveryeducation.com

THAT was frustrating!

1. I'm Laura Trimarco...I teach third grade in Douglas County, Colorado. Very progressive, very techie.
2. From this course, I want tools and strategies to make learning relevant and engaging for my students.
3. My educational philosophy is that the primary mission of a teacher is to make their students WANT to learn and become self-motivated, independent learners.
4. Digital media is instantaneous, multi-sensorial, and, more importantly, it's the language my kids speak. It makes learning a living, breathing thing in the classroom.
5. Biggest challenge in using technology: student attention...once they have a computer in front of them, it is hard to direct their attention, even momentarily, to the instruction that scaffolds the activity or learning. They assume they already know "how to do it," and because they are eight, they usually don't...at least not the "purpose" part. They quickly grasp the "doing," and that is a big plus, but it can be tough to get their attention long enough to get to the "purpose."
6. Example of using media (and this is just still photography at this point , but it has had a real impact): National Geographic photography is the cornerstone of my writing instruction...either describing an interesting/exotic animal, writing a narrative that accompanies an "adventure" photo, or an environmental-activism-inspired persuasive writing.
7. How is my classroom different...dude, I'm a boomer...EVERYTHING is different! Primarily, it's much more quickly paced...and we learn TONS more EVERY DAY! TONS...MEGATONS...going techie is the only way to get all of this done without wearing the kids out!