Dennis Rowen

Location: i teach for several universities: nyit, st. pete college, marygrove university and briarcliffe college.

About me

I am a Graduate Professor of Literacy/Technology with a focus on integrating literacy with content.

I have written educational books on this subject including lessons, activities and units for various publishers.

I have also designed and implemented literacy based units for several large school districts throughout the U.S.

I supervise Reading Interns in schools.

I am an active member serving on many committees for the International Reading Associaton and coordinated the NYS Reading Conference.

I retired as the Reading Coordinator/AIS Coordinator for a large NYS school.

I am currently completing a study with Tim Rasinskin in terms of designing Choral Readers Theatre Scripts to integrate literacy with content to improve students' comprehension and fluency.

Interests

i am actively involved in creating integrated literacy based units focusing on integrating content and technology.

Skills

i am a uspta tennis pro as well.

Activity

Dennis Rowen

Discussion Comment

Distracting students

I remember the words of the great Donal Leu, who was the head of the University of Connecticut literacy/technology center and a great speaker. I am not sure where he is now, but he is a tremendous source of knowledge and a great influence in the field. I had him as one of my keynote speakers when I coordinated the NYS Reading Conference. One of his pertinent points was on how to deal with "distracting" students in the school system, which would be quite appropro to our discussion here. His chief recommendation would be to take this student, train that… >>>

Dennis Rowen

Discussion Comment

Distracting students

If we actively engage students (at all ages) in learning activities, then cell phones, talking, texting, etc. become a moot point!!

Dennis Rowen

Discussion Comment

Distracting students

@ALBULS :Andrea: I just finished viewing a Video from tha amazing Doug Fisher who actually addresses this issue (though in a literacy setting in a publich school). He is adament that if students are not interacting during learning, we are not doing our job as educators. It is our jobs as educators at all levels to create engagement with students and part of that engagement is to create opportunities for students to interact. There are many ways to do this. When I do PD work in schools throughout the U.S., I design units and activitiies that focus on students working… >>>

Dennis Rowen

Discussion Comment

Distracting students

@robinrowe : Well, Robin. Your students will certainly be deemed "combat ready"!!

I remember when I first started teaching in a public school in NYC. I was so nervous and had such a hard time controlling the students in a middle school. It took me years to figure it out. My solution was to transfer a lot of the ownership to the students. I designed engaging activities that were in their interest zone or focused on content they needed to know in a design that engaged them with the activity. I used PBL. I designed group activities. I developed materials… >>>

Dennis Rowen

Discussion Comment

Student Motivation

@inesamak : My question is how much of the lack of motivation is attirbuted to the existing curriculum? I find that if an instructor can design courses at any level that engage the students in areas of personal or future interest, then you will find greater motivation and engagement. If at the developmental level, we are asking students to read material which does not relate to their lives, interests or future studies, how can we expect them to be motivated? So, I will be quite interested in viewing the curriculum of a developmental course with this schema in mind.

Dennis… >>>

Dennis Rowen

Blog

Assessment Issues for CEE Pre-Assessment and Quizzes

I was most happy to take the course focusing on preparing teachers to teach on-line. Overall, I found the course beneficial, but mostly as a review, for me as I have been teaching on-line for many years at a graduate school level.

I did have some issues, however, with the pre-assessment and some of the quiz questions. Especially in the pre-assessment, I found some questions that really could have more than one answer and there were some question structures that were really not optimal. I have worked for Pearson Assessment doing PD work in schools in helping teachers design appropriate… >>>

Dennis Rowen

Discussion Comment

New Web 2.0 Tool

I have used an amazing Web 2.0 tool that I find is really great. I would love to share this with everyone. It is a Web Quiz that I use as a pre-learning activity. The Web Quiz is self correcting similar to the way that these quizzes are in this unit. I have students take the quiz and they can take it as many times as they wish. They then submit a screen shot of their final quiz grade and receive this grade in the gradebook. I utilize this as a way of making sure students have essential background information… >>>

Dennis Rowen

Discussion Comment

Initial Posts and Engagement

I would love to see any examples of engaging, pertinent initial posts that you folks have used to motivate and engage students in a discussion. I love to see the creativity that many instructors have and try to use some of that creativity in my instruction.

Dennis Rowen

Discussion Comment

Differentiation!!

I am interested to see what are some techniques and strategies you have used to differentiate instruction in an on-line environment. It is always great to see what creative techniques different instructors have used.

Dennis Rowen

Discussion Comment

Engagement Utilizing Tech Tools in an Online Environment

I have often used tech tools as a motivator to engage students in discussions and creating products that have students defending a position or striving to prove their case or point. I have done this with even students in traditional classrooms as this works well with the new Common Core Standards where students are expected to utilize content and reference content in their writing. I am interested in some of the ways that other instructors have used tech tools in a virtual environment to create student engagement and have students create authentic literacy based products.

End of Content