The father of one of our 2nd grade students is currently serving in the military in Afghanistan. Our media specialist had the wonderful idea of trying to have him Skype with his daughter’s class on Veteran’s Day. The plan was that he would read a book to the class via Skype. His wife was coming and bringing their older son, and it was going to be a surprise for the students. The day before the big event, all the technical details were tested, including the Skype connection.
Our global connection was to take place at 8:00 A.M., which was 4:30 P.M. in Afghanistan. About 7:45 that morning, visitors began arriving in Ms. Hughes’s classroom. We had reporters and video cameras from our 3 local news channels. The students sat quietly engaged in independent reading as the adults sat watching the clock and the computer screen, eager for our contact’s button to turn green in the Skype window. Minutes ticked by slowly, but the students were so well behaved! About 8:25, our guest reader texted his wife that he was not able to make the Skype connection on his end. We were very disappointed, but as educators, we know that “monitor and adjust” is the name of the game. Ultimately we devised a “work around.” His wife went over by the window (to improve phone reception), we held a microphone up to the phone, and he read the book to the class as Ms. Hughes held up the book and turned the pages. There were other technology glitches in the process of devising the work around, but in the end, it was a very meaningful experience for both the students and all the adults in the room! Here’s the news report from WLTX:
I have been blogging with students for 4 or 5 years. I am convinced that it is one of the best instructional tools that we have. Sadly, it is also probably one of the most under-used. Several years ago I created a little video, “Top 10 Reasons to Blog with Students,” in an effort to promote student blogging. Now that YouTube is unblocked for teachers in my district, I recently added it there.
What are the most important features of a blog engine? A secure environment with options for monitoring student posts and comments is a must. The ability for students to upload a variety of file types is definitely a plus. Edublogs is a great blog engine, and I have used it for my personal professional blog for years. In today’s financial climate, cost is an inevitable issue, which unfortunately eliminates Edublogs Campus for me.
In the beginning I used Blogmeister with my students, which is David Warlick’s wonderful protected learning community for student blogs. After that first year, we decided we wanted our students to have a few more options for customizing. I’ve used 21 Classes in recent years, which is fairly user-friendly. We did encounter some computers locking up when attempting to save, but we haven’t determined if that’s an issue with our network or on their end. ClassPress is a relatively new blog engine that is currently being tested by another TIS friend, and I’m waiting to hear a report on that one. In the meantime, I created a comparison chart of features:
We’ve been training for about 2 weeks, and students will begin on Wednesday. I’ve always loved the beginning of school! It’s a chance for a fresh start, new dreams, and new opportunities for growth. I’ve been tossing around some thoughts about what I’d like to focus on this year……
Here are my initial thoughts:
1. Promote Greater Collaboration
Collaboration is a research-based best practice that generates improvement in student achievement (Schools as Learning Communities). In addition to the research, I had first-hand evidence this past year when my school embraced Professional Learning Communities and experienced phenomenal growth in student achievement.
A. Teacher Resource Center
After spending the past 2 years working with a small group of TIS colleagues on the development of a district-wide Resource Center, it’s finally ready for debut this year! It is a database of teacher-created instructional materials, including SMART Notebook lessons, PowerPoints, spreadsheats, lesson plans, units, hand-held activities and more that is searchable by keyword, content area, and grade level. The TRC will allow our teachers to move beyond collaboration within their own building to collaborating across the district.
B. Social Bookmarking
I have set up a Diigo account for use by my school which is fairly well accessed by students and teachers. We also have a prominent link on our school web page so that students can access resources from home. Unfortunately, up until this time, teachers usually send their links to me, and I post them to Diigo. This year I intend to make sure that the Diigo toolbar is on each teacher’s laptop, and I hope to train them to bookmark their own great finds instead of just saving them to “Favorites.”
C. Grade Level & Individual Planning Meetings
Regular communication with teachers is the only way I can provide support for instruction. They many more responsibilities than there are hours in the day, so it’s important that I take the initiative to find out about their units of study and the standards being taught. This means that it’s important for me to schedule regular visits to grade level collaborative planning meetings. As I hear what they are teaching, I can make suggestions of ways technology can be used to facilitate the learning. One of the most success strategies I’ve used to encourage technology integration is to individually approach teachers with ideas for project-based learning activities. I have never had a teacher say, “No.”
2. Instructional Support
A. Assessment
My faculty made great leaps last year in learning how to create and use common assessments. Using common assessments is one of the best ways to measure growth in student achievement. There are lots of ways that technology can be very assistive in the administration of common assessments. Here are some tools I plan to share with teachers:
Hot Potatoes: free online assessment tool with crossword, matching, and cloze activities; great for formative assessment.
Google Forms: with the addition of a little html code, you can create self-checking quizzes in Google Forms.
Quia: a reasonably priced “subscription” service that is tried and true with multiple quiz types available.
SMART Response Sysytems: (formerly known as Senteo): this year each grade level will have 2 sets, and this will be fabulous for instant feedback!
B. Differentiation
I’m still convinced that the use of iPods in the classroom is one of the most motivational, effective tools available for differentiation, so I plan to continue to locate and create instructional content in mp3 and m4v formats. Student blogs offer another path for differentiation. We will also continue to use Riverdeep (Destination Reading & Math) , First in Math, and Ticket to Read.
C. Project-Based Learning
During my 4 years of teaching in the 21st Cenury Classroom, I learned that project-based learning motivates student learning and addresses multiple standards in a time “cost-effective” way. As I collaborate with teachers, I will actively make suggestions of PBL activities to address targeted standards.
3. Teacher Productivity
A. Outlook
Our school email has switched from GroupWise to Outlook. Besides the basics, teachers need to learn how to create distribution lists and use the calendar. (Love the calendar features!)
B. PowerSchool / PowerTeacher
As part of the big migration, our district has moved from using IGPro to using PowerSchool. PowerTeacher seems fairly easy to use. At our initial introductory session, teachers were favorable about the interface. Some features can’t be accessed until school actually starts. This will be a continual learning experience for a while.
C. Google Docs
I’m going to make an effort to go more “paperless” with my training materials. As part of my beginning of the year training I’m making sure each teacher has a Google account, and I’m sharing technology “cheat sheets” this way, hoping they will see the value in online collaboration. So far, so good!
D. Document Cameras
Our district has adopted an ambitious 5 year technology roll-out plan based on a bond referendum. This year all classes in the district are scheduled to receive an Elmo Document Camera. I’m already collecting resources to help train teachers on the many ways a doc cam can enhance instruction.
E. Teacher Blogs
About 12 teachers have indicated that they are interested in having their own class blog through our district iWeb server. That is evidence to me that they are beginning to see the power of Web 2.0 tools for the classroom!
It’s going to be an exciting and busy year! I look forward to observing growth in students, teachers, and myself!
This was my 2nd year to attend UTC. Last year I presented, but this year I just wanted to go as a sponge and absorb. I must say that I was very impressed and pleased with my experiences! The Greenville County School District provides this conference free to participants. Obviously their main target audience is their own teachers, who receive a trade day for attending. But at the same time, the conference is open free to anyone. What a gift!!! In my opinion, this conference is much better than the state-wide Ed Tech conference held in the fall, because most of these presenters are teachers, people who are sharing what works in the trenches.
The keynote speaker was Chris Craft, a Spanish teacher from Crossroads Elementary in Irmo, SC. Chris has done some phenomenal work with a global project, Life Round Here, and is currently working on completing his Phd. His informative, entertaining presentation, “Superpowers for Everyday Heroes,” shared great tips of ways he incorporates technology in the classroom. Chris is an expert at preparing interesting presentations. During this presentation, he had an entertaining “dialogue” with his computer, “Maria.” That same day, our governor, Mark Sanford, admitted to an affair with an Argentinian woman named Maria. Just an ironic coincidence, but a little humorous!
The sessions I attended were great! I got some wonderful ideas for assessment that I plan to share with my faculty. One is a free web-based interactive program called Hot Potatoes. This tool includes templates for crossword, matching quizzes, and cloze activities and provides instant feedback. Michelle O’Malley led this great session. Another session that focused on assessment was a session called “Creating Online Polls and Self-Grading Quizzes” by Kim Pauls. Kim demonstrated how to use google forms to create quizzes and how to set up formulas for the quizzes to be automatically scored.
Some of the other awesome sessions included:
In “Using Collaborative Tools,” Cathy Jo Nelson and Fran Bullington had a great dueling showdown between wikis and google docs.
My friend and colleague, Mike Edwards, did a terrific presentation on “Augmented Reality.” This has been a cutting-edge, personal exploration for him, and I have been privileged to delve into this a little with him.
Amanda LaBlanc did a useful hands-on session on Flip Video Cameras. Each grade level at my school is getting one this coming year, so that was a great training session.
Ellen Gordon did a fabulous session, “Goodbye Overhead…Hello Doc Cam.” In the new school year, my district is providing a doc cam for every classroom, and I left this session with lots of ways to use it in various curricular areas.
Another fun experience was a “Tweet-up” held at Wild Wings Wednesday evening. It was so cool to meet people face-to-face who are part of my PLN. Twitter is one of my best sources of professional development, and the people in my PLN are very helpful to me. It was fantastic!
Thanks to Greenville County School District and all the presenters! It was a very valuable personal growth experience.
I recently had a conversation with my district Director of Technology, a TIS friend, and my former Global Horizons teacher partner about the merits of Twitter and the possibilities for the educational use of Twitter. Here are some of the links that have helped shape my perspective:
Here’s a link to all of my DIIgo bookmarks about Twitter. The list includes Twitter apps, news articles about Twitter, lists of Twittering teachers, and Twitter in education. This doesn’t even scratch the surface!
As digital educators, we’re always looking for new ways to engage our students through technology-enhanced learning opportunities. At this point, Twitter is blocked in my district, so I’m always on the lookout for other options for student collaboration and “realtime” conversations. On Twitter today, Chris Webb did some “thinking out loud” and wondered about using a backchannel for student interactions while they watched a video. He had previously blogged about how a teacher in his school, Pat Gerding, had used Today’s Meet as a backchannel during class. This looks like a great way to engage students in conversation about learning in a somewhat private format. All you do is go to the Today’s Meet website and create a room. No account is necessary. Once you create the room, you share the url with your students so they can enter it. Can’t wait to try it out!
It’s amazing how something so simple as a 140 character reply to the question, “What are you doing?” could have such a huge global impact on society. Tech Crunch reports,
Worldwide visitors to Twitter.com increased 95 percent in the month of March from 9.8 million to 19.1 million.
Businesses use Twitter as a source for free advertising. Politicians use Twitter for campaigning. Celebrities use Twitter to increase their celebrity status. (Can anyone explain why Oprah felt a need for this?) Twitter is having such an impact on the corporate world that according to BusinessWeek, some companies are developing social media codes of conduct for employees:
To prevent sensitive information leaks, blemishes on a reputation, and other potential liabilities of a Twittering workforce, companies are drafting new employee codes of conduct and educating workers about what they should and shouldn’t say on the site. The basic rule: Don’t be stupid.
Why is Twitter taking the world by storm? Clive Thompson sums it up:
Individually, most Twitter messages are stupefyingly trivial. But the true value of Twitter … is cumulative. The power is in the surprising effects that come from receiving thousands of pings from your posse. And this, as it turns out, suggests where the Web is heading.
So why has Twitter been so misunderstood? Because it’s experiential. Scrolling through random Twitter messages can’t explain the appeal. You have to do it — and, more important, do it with friends… It’s practically collectivist — you’re creating a shared understanding larger than yourself.
I love the phrase, “creating a shared understanding larger than yourself.” I have been Twittering for about a year and a half, and I only follow educators. My primary purpose is personal professional learning. Twitter is my best source for professional development. I’ve been slow and selective about choosing people to follow, but I have developed a wonderful network of like-minded professionals around the world. As I interact with these people in ongoing short phrases, we have a shared understanding of what it means to be passionate about the role of technology in education. We share great ideas, our successes, our frustrations, and things we’ve learned in the midst of the sprinkled tidbits of our personal lives. Teacher collaboration has been identified as a key factor in raising student achievement, and through social networking tools like Twitter, I can collaborate and learn from the best around the world.
So my question is this: since Twitter is such a powerful learning tool, how do we go about harnessing that collective learning energy for use in schools? Great Britain is considering recommendations for updating the primary curriculum, suggesting that children should be familiar with blogging, podcasts, Wikipedia and Twitter by the time they go to secondary school. They may consider dropping traditional content in favor of emphasizing informational technology, according to the Times. Although my district is very proactive in the area of providing technology equipment for schools, it still has a very conservative stance on blocking many useful social networking tools like Twitter that enhance learning.
Imagine a classroom where differentiated instruction results in students using MP3 players, cell phones, laptops, and gaming devices to pursue individual learning goals. They interact with students around the world via Twitter, Ning, or other social networking vehicles to ask questions, collaborate, share resources, and share learning in real time. Immediate response, immediate feedback, immediate dialogue about learning. Twitter is changing the way the world communicates. Why should our students be the last to benefit?
Last week someone shared a link to Myebook on Twitter. This is a cool, free application that allows you to create a digital flash book with pages that “turn.” There are 2 ways to create: upload from a PDF (fast & easy) or create from scratch (which allows you to customize your pages with color, backgrounds, frames, templates, etc). I decided to create one from scratch to get a feel for how it worked.
Then I tested the PDF option with a student project:
There are so many ways this could be used in school, not only for Language Arts, but in every content area. Primary teachers could use it to create class books, and older students could create individual books. Teachers could create an end of the year memory book for their class. Content can be uploaded from your computer, Flickr, Picasa, Facebook, Bebo, Photobucket, and more. Books can be designated as public or private. Each book has its own URL, and embeddable code is also provided.
Recommendations:
Make sure you have Flash 10 loaded.
Don’t allow students to go to the Myebook main page. People post a variety of books, and some content is definitely not suitable for students. I plan to share and manage by using the URL links.
For most elementary students, the easiest option would be to have them create their content in Word or PowerPoint and save as a PDF. Then you upload the PDF, and the ebook is quickly created. Older students would enjoy creating their own and customizing.
I’ve been working with a fifth grade class to create an online interactive “Choose Your Own Adventure” story. I first tried this several years ago using Tony Vincent’s templates from his Learning in Hand site. The first time, I had students from 2 different classes working in pairs to write the story on a wiki. That ended up being a lot of stories to manage!
This year I tried something a little simpler. I met with a class several times and we brainstormed/planned the story using Open Mind 2, a mind-mapping program. OM 2 lets you attach text or other things to its branches. Attachments are indicated by the paperclips at the end of some branches. We wrote the text for the beginning of the story together as a group and planned an outline of how the story would progress.
Then students worked in pairs to write the story parts for the remaining branches. Each pair then created a PowerPoint slide of their part of the story, and I hyperlinked them together. The plan was to save the PPT as a single web page, but when I did this, it created an mht file, which will only work in Internet Explorer. Then I used iSpring to convert the PPT to html, and this seems to work.
During the project, I received an email from Ms. Hughes that said, “I am so excited! Most of my groups in my homeroom have finished their first drafts and have started revising. They are doing such an awesome job of writing, working together, and having great discussions about their writing. I am really impressed with them … it has been a great learning activity.” Six state ELA standards were addressed during this project.
Teacher collaboration has been a strong push in my district this year with an emphasis on Professional Learning Communities. We’ve had a district focus on DuFour’s book, On Common Ground. As part of that effort, quarterly “On Common Ground” meetings have been held with elementary administrators, instructional coaches, TISs, and interventionists to promote a data-driven, results-oriented culture. At the school level, grade level teams have been meeting weekly to plan instruction and common assessments and to analyze results. We’ve just completed the spring administration of MAP testing for reading and math, , and I’ve had teacher after teacher come up to me, beaming about their great scores and how many students met or exceeded the anticipated growth index. After such an intense year of hard work, teachers are able to see the great results that can be achieved through collaboration.
In an effort to carry collaboration another step further, I worked with a small group of TISs to create a district-wide database of teacher-created lesson materials. Our district web master took our recommendations and created a searchable database. Teachers can upload interactive whiteboard lessons, PowerPoints, WORD docs, spreadsheets, handheld activities, and many other files. The database is searchable by subject, content strand, grade level, and keyword. We’re excited about this project because it will enable teachers to share and find resources from other people in our district who teach the same standards.
Over the last several months, however, I have come to realize that collaborating within the district is still too narrow of a vision. Through my own PLN, I have been amazed and delighted to discover that there are excellent educators around the globe who are willing to share their resources and knowledge, and sometimes I can receive an answer faster than if I sent an email to a colleague. A month ago, I was experimenting with Ustream, and I was running into a playback issue. Not knowing anyone in district who was using it, I posted a question about it on the Classroom 2.0 Ning, I had received a reply with a checklist of steps to try. This list helped me narrow down my issue to reach a solution. And from where did my speedy assistance come? From Carlos Ferrer in Rykjavik, Iceland! Recently I was preparing a lesson on folk tales for 5th grade, and I had already spent a lot of time searching for resoures. I posted a query on Twitter and quickly received 3 good leads, including a great link to video on an interesting New Zealand legend from allanahk in Nelson, New Zealand.
Yesterday morning, ironically, Wes Fryer posted a link on Twitter to an article he had written on the ISTE blog on iTouch and iPhone apps for Education, and his opening sentence was “The power of Twitter and personal learning networks continues to amaze me!”
I’ll close with these words from a post on Twitter by Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach: “It is time to end the practice of solo teaching. Today’s teachers must learn in collectively built, widely shared, cohesive networks.”
That’s what I want for my teachers, because I’m convinced that it’s a vital element in raising student achievement.
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