Presentation to Cohort XV, Seton Hall University, Technology Class, Ed.D. Program

1. Technology tutors
Using technology to transform the
pre-writing experience.

2. OBJECTIVES:
• EXPOSE STUDENTS AND TUTORS TO NEW WAYS OF BRAINSTORMING
BEFORE WRITING (IMINDMAP)
• CHANGE DYNAMIC OF STUDENT-TO-TEACHER AS THE ONLY WAY OF
EVALUATING WRITING PRODUCTS (CREATE WEEBLY WEBSITE TO PUBLISH
STUDENT WORK)
• CHANGE TUTOR-TO-TUTOR RELATIONSHIPS (USE GOOGLE PLUS CIRCLES
TO ENHANCE COMMUNICATION)
• CHANGE TUTOR-TO-DIRECTOR RELATIONSHIPS (CREATE OPPORTUNITIES
FOR TUTORS TO LEARN FROM EACH OTHER, RATHER THAN REACHING OUT
TO ME)
• EXPAND STUDENT DESIRE TO WRITE AND IMPROVE QUALITY OF WORK BY
PUBLISHING WRITING SAMPLES ONLINE AND HAVING OTHERS COMMENT
ON THEIR WORK THROUGH BLOGS (WEEBLY BLOGGING)

3. WRITING PROCESS
Pre-writing, Putting
Ideas into Sentences
and
Paragraphs, Editing, Sha

4. Pre-Writing
• Thinking of what to say (word retrieval)
• Organizing random ideas into sentences and
paragraphs (syntax and organization of
thoughts)
• Adding and deleting details as you move
forward
• Thinking about the goals of the writing
assignment
• Imindmapping helps with all of these steps

5. Changing Relationships:
Tutors to Me/Tutors to Tutors

6. Oh my, the hardware issues!!
• Tutors became obsessed with the difficulty in
getting their computers to cooperate. The PC
people blamed the Apple people and vice-
versa.
• We worked on adapting new programs to
both formats.
• Eventually they calmed down…but it took
weeks!

7. Tony Buzan on Mindmapping
Click here if you have trouble viewing this video!

8. Imindmaps from
www.thinkbuzan.com

9. Finding out that the Kids Were Better
At Imindmapping than the Teachers
• Very intimidating for the teachers
• Teachers were ready to drop it even though
the kids liked it
• Eventually, they persisted, and now they want
to use it with lots of kids and have
recommended it to the other tutors.

10. Then Came Weebly..
• The kids were so excited to post online…
• The tutors weren’t…..They felt that it was too
complicated
• They did it anyway (I can be very convincing…)
• Now they want to do the blogging on Weebly
http://www.franspot.weebly.com

11. Weebly Homepage

12. Blog, blog, blog…
• Comment on Ben's mindmap 04/22/2012
• 2 Comments
•
• My Dream Vacation
My Dream Vacation would be for four weeks during March so I can get out of school for those weeks. I choose
Megan, my favorite babysitter, and my friend, Jonathan to go with me. We would leave from BWI and fly into L.A.
where we will rent an Escalade. We will visit Disneyland, Universal Studios and relatives. For the last two weeks
we will drive to San Francisco. I will visit more relatives there and visit the steepest, winding road there. I will have
to think up more things to do because four weeks is a long time. I will plan more of the trip before we go.
•
•
Comments
• alissa sheinbach
• 04/24/2012 10:06am
• Wow, there was so much information in that map! I really like how he used pictures on the map too. Great topic!
Alissa
• Reply
• elaine gittlen
• 04/25/2012 7:16am
• Fantastic mindmap!! I'd like to learn how you got the pictures on it.
elaine
• Reply

13. Alissa, (One of our Tutors) on Blogging
(Google + Comment)
• alissa sheinbach
• Apr 23, 2012 - Limited
• I think the blog idea is especially great for tutoring
because in a classroom, students can at least share
writing with classmates, but one-on-one there is no
one else to get feedback from except the tutor. Now
kids have to think about their audience in an authentic
way. They also will have to think about proofreading
and clarity knowing that someone not in room will
read it, and they will not be able to explain anything.
The writing will have to stand on its own.

14. A New Tutor’s Comment
• Zachary Ferentz
• 04/22/2012 1:34pm
• I'm a tutor at the University of Maryland ASCDU,
and I think it's a fantastic idea for students to post
their work online. It allows them to receive
positive feedback from people all over the world,
and it promotes and strengthens their creativity. I
will definitely encourage my students to share
their work online. Well done!

15. Ben makes an imindmap and writes a paragraph that
gets posted on franspot.weebly.com

16. Parents and Friends Going Online to
See Student Work
• Students are very excited to do next piece
• Students want feedback not only from teacher
• Changing the balance of power between tutor
and student
• Tutors want to now create new websites for
different purposes
•Θ

17. PARADIGM SHIFT
• Students sharing with their parents
• Students sharing with their teachers
• Students sharing with their friends
• Students starting to blog on Weebly
• Students sharing with students

18. Our work with students is changing.
• To understand more about what we do at
bowman educational services, inc., MultiFlex
Tutoring, please feel free to visit our main
website at:
www.bowmaneducationalservices.com

19. ✚ ✚ ✚
✚
✚ ✚

20. NEXT STEPS
• 1. TRY OTHER BRAINSTORMING TOOLS FOR WRITING
• 2. EXPAND WEEBLY WEBSITE TO INCREASE AWARENESS OF
STUDENT WORK
• 3. INVOLVE MORE TUTORS IN THIS PROJECT IN OUR 5
OFFICES SO THAT THEY CAN COMMUNICATE AND SHARE
WITH EACH OTHER IN NEW GOOGLE PLUS CIRCLES.
• 4. TRY TO USE THESE TOOLS WITH PARENTS SO THEY CAN
HELP THEIR KIDS MORE AT HOME
• 5. BUILD BLOGGING COMPONENT SO THAT STUDENTS
(NOT JUST PARENTS AND TEACHERS) ARE COMMENTING
ON EACH OTHERS’ WORK
• 6. CREATE AN EVALUATION TOOL TO MEASURE THE
EFFECTIVENESS OF EACH PRE-WRITING PROGRAM.

21. WHAT STRUCTURES OF LEARNING
CHANGED FROM THE TRADITIONAL
MODE?
• WRITING BECAME A PUBLIC EVENT TO BE
APPRECIATED BY A WIDER, INTERESTED
AUDIENCE
• DYSGRAPHIC STUDENTS WERE EXCITED AND
MOTIVATED TO DO THEIR MINDMAPS AND TO
PRODUCE WRITTEN WORK
• TEACHERS FOUND IT EASIER TO INTRODUCE
WRITING ACTIVITIES AND HAD A DIFFERENT
LEVEL OF INVESTMENT IN THE PRODUCT
BECAUSE THE WORK WAS PUBLICIZED

22. WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENTLY?
RE-EVALUATED TIME-BASED ISSUES
• I WOULD HAVE MADE SURE THAT THE
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE WERE WORKING
PROPERLY BEFORE INVOLVING THE TUTORS---
A GREAT DEAL OF TIME WAS WASTED ON
UNIMPORTANT ISSUES
• I WOULD HAVE INCLUDED THE PARENTS
EARLIER IN THE PROCESS---THEY WERE
CATALYSTS AND REALLY WANTED THEIR KIDS
TO IMPROVE THEIR CYBERSKILLS

23. We are still very green (not in
the environmental sense, but
in the “what are we doing?”
sense). Hope springs eternal….