Fifth in a series from San Antonio Convention Center...
Here are some links that I gathered today:
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Tuesday ruminations from ISTE
Fourth in a series from the San Antonio Convention Center...
I left yesterday more than a little frustrated, feeling like the sessions I attended were long on inspiration and short on implementation. Today is a different story. I think I picked well, as the first two sessions I attended (other than the keynote) were highly practical and left me with some great ideas for next year.
The first was on modeling effective Professional Learning (PL). (Professional Learning is teacher-initiated, individually selected; Professional Development is something that is done to teachers in a group.) They made the point that if we want teachers to shift their instructional methods, then we must model that instruction in their PL sessions. We cannot stand and lecture from a PowerPoint to a room full of inert, inactive bodies and then expect them to go back to their classrooms and teach in an active, engaging way. Just as a teacher has to model desired behaviors for students, PL leaders have to model desired behaviors for teachers. This has some pretty profound and obvious implications for the way our district and sites deliver inservices.
The second session was about a relatively new initiative from ISTE to support instructional coaches. In the last six months, this group has developed National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for coaches, as well as established a Special Interest Group for Educational Technology Coaches (SIGETC). The presenters at this session cited research indicating that in order for PL to produce lasting beneficial change in classroom instruction, it must be
This is a promising model that I think I can begin to implement next year. In addition to myself and our other established ToSA, our district has one new full-time ToSA and six new part-time ToSAs. I want to explore ways to make this the norm in our schools next year.
I left yesterday more than a little frustrated, feeling like the sessions I attended were long on inspiration and short on implementation. Today is a different story. I think I picked well, as the first two sessions I attended (other than the keynote) were highly practical and left me with some great ideas for next year.
The first was on modeling effective Professional Learning (PL). (Professional Learning is teacher-initiated, individually selected; Professional Development is something that is done to teachers in a group.) They made the point that if we want teachers to shift their instructional methods, then we must model that instruction in their PL sessions. We cannot stand and lecture from a PowerPoint to a room full of inert, inactive bodies and then expect them to go back to their classrooms and teach in an active, engaging way. Just as a teacher has to model desired behaviors for students, PL leaders have to model desired behaviors for teachers. This has some pretty profound and obvious implications for the way our district and sites deliver inservices.
The second session was about a relatively new initiative from ISTE to support instructional coaches. In the last six months, this group has developed National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for coaches, as well as established a Special Interest Group for Educational Technology Coaches (SIGETC). The presenters at this session cited research indicating that in order for PL to produce lasting beneficial change in classroom instruction, it must be
- Job-embedded;
- Intensive and ongoing;
- Connected to practice;
- Collaborative among teachers; and
- Connected to school initiatives.
This is a promising model that I think I can begin to implement next year. In addition to myself and our other established ToSA, our district has one new full-time ToSA and six new part-time ToSAs. I want to explore ways to make this the norm in our schools next year.
Monday, June 24, 2013
Links from Monday at ISTE 13
Third in a series from the San Antonio Convention Center...
Here are links that I gathered today, mostly by QR code, a few by phone or by hand:
Here are links that I gathered today, mostly by QR code, a few by phone or by hand:
- Creating ePortfolios using Google Sites
- Chrome Apps You Can Use Now
- Creating Assessments that can't be Googled
- Digital Citizenship Resources
- Piloting a Flipped PD Model
- Teacher Dashboard using Hapara
- Graphite - Lessons from Common Sense Media
- Alternatives to Homework
- Resources from George Couros' Presentation: Leading Innovative Change
- Ink Survey - Formative Assessment Tool
- CDW-G Common Core Tech Report
More thoughts from ISTE
Second in a series from San Antonio...
I went to a couple of sessions today that were inspiring and that I agreed with completely, but I was frustrated that they weren't more practical.
I went to a couple of sessions today that were inspiring and that I agreed with completely, but I was frustrated that they weren't more practical.
- A CDW-sponsored session on technology needs for Common Core adoption included three great educational technology leaders who had exactly the right focus: instruction first, then technology. Common Core (and 21st-century education) will not work if we just drop technology into classrooms (via purchases or BYOD) and hope it gets used well. So the conclusion is that we need to transform instruction before anything else.
- George Couros' session on Leading Innovative Change was very entertaining and inspiring, but I'm already inspired. I don't think he said anything that I disagreed with, but I was still left with the conundrum of how we can foster this transformation within our district.
I suppose it is asking too much to get practical answers that are specific to our district's situation, or perhaps the speakers were giving practical answers and I just wasn't recognizing them. But what I'm struggling with now is implementation, not inspiration. I feel like I have a good idea of the direction in which I want to lead, but I'm still working out how to get there.
Big Data in the Workplace Means Big Changes
http://www.businessinsider.com/big-data-in-the-workplace-2013-5
This fascinating article is important for educators.
First paragraph:
Hiring decisions have always been limited to a few imperfect factors, including what appears on a resume and what impression a candidate gives off in an informal interview.
This fascinating article is important for educators.
First paragraph:
Hiring decisions have always been limited to a few imperfect factors, including what appears on a resume and what impression a candidate gives off in an informal interview.
First Thoughts from ISTE 13
First in a series from the San Antonio Convention Center...
- Poster sessions are great; lots of ideas and people to talk to in a compressed space and time.
- Last year at ISTE '12 in San Diego, I had just started my ToSA position and went in with a kind of blank mind. This time I have two areas that I want to focus on for next year: (1) BYOD and (2) a coaching model for PD. (I suppose I'm also on the lookout for Common Core-related items as well, but there doesn't seem to be much of that in the program.)
- Apps and websites are uninteresting to me. I can find the latest storytelling app or math support website, and I can pretty much figure out how to use it. If not, I can ask my PLN about it. A poster about a particular app makes me just walk right by.
- I suppose I've also got a pretty good idea about what we should be having our students do with their apps, websites, and devices. We want them creating, collaborating, communicating, and thinking critically. The big question now is how do we implement this? Hence, BYOD and PD.
- I should have brought my phone charger with me instead of leaving it in the room. Tomorrow....
Friday, June 14, 2013
Video Site for Many Subjects
http://education-portal.com/academy/subject/science.html?hq_e=el&hq_m=1589579&hq_l=2&hq_v=8863b63a5f
The videos here are short and infomration dense. They are higher quality than most flip videos.
The videos here are short and infomration dense. They are higher quality than most flip videos.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Disks
A teacher emailed me today, asking if there was any use for old 3.5-inch "floppy" disks. Apparently she found a box of "new" ones when cleaning out a cabinet. I came up with 15 uses; add more in the comments...
1) You could make art, like some kind of collage on the wall...
2) You could use them as coasters...
3) Get 43 more, and paint them as playing cards. Play poker with the students...
4) Paint bullseyes on them and use them for playing darts...
5) Wobbly chair legs? Problem solved!
6) Two words: Miniature frisbees!
7) Put stars on them and hand them out as rewards to star students...
8) Glue the edges together in the shape of a box to make a pen/pencil holder...
9) Travel back in time to 1996 and sell them for a profit...
10) Save them for your grandchildren and tell them stories of the olden days...
11) Take them to Staples and ask for your money back, just to see what they say...
12) Use them to scrape gum off the underside of desks...
13) Mail them to AOL one at a time every two weeks...
14) Break into the Smithsonian and place them next to the exhibit of the original Apple Macintosh (pretty sure this will be a Nicolas Cage movie soon)...
15) Label them "Top Secret NSA Archives" and hide them inside a wall. Loads of fun for some future construction worker!
1) You could make art, like some kind of collage on the wall...
2) You could use them as coasters...
3) Get 43 more, and paint them as playing cards. Play poker with the students...
4) Paint bullseyes on them and use them for playing darts...
5) Wobbly chair legs? Problem solved!
6) Two words: Miniature frisbees!
7) Put stars on them and hand them out as rewards to star students...
8) Glue the edges together in the shape of a box to make a pen/pencil holder...
9) Travel back in time to 1996 and sell them for a profit...
10) Save them for your grandchildren and tell them stories of the olden days...
11) Take them to Staples and ask for your money back, just to see what they say...
12) Use them to scrape gum off the underside of desks...
13) Mail them to AOL one at a time every two weeks...
14) Break into the Smithsonian and place them next to the exhibit of the original Apple Macintosh (pretty sure this will be a Nicolas Cage movie soon)...
15) Label them "Top Secret NSA Archives" and hide them inside a wall. Loads of fun for some future construction worker!
Monday, June 3, 2013
In the Good Ol' Summertime
What to do, what to do? Summer approaches, and teachers' thoughts turn to... well, nothing, actually. It's enough just to get past June 14th. But once summer gets underway, and you get all your nothing accomplished in the first few weeks, you might wonder how you could catch up on all the things you were interested in doing during the school year but just didn't have time. So here are some ideas for things you might try out this summer:
- Read a book: I've mentioned books that you could borrow here, here, and here. I also have three more copies of Flip Your Classroom to lend out. Let me know if you'd like any of them.
- Make new friends: Build your personal learning network by joining Twitter. You don't have to say anything at first, just read what others have to say. You can try it out on Sunday nights at 8:00 for California Education Chat, using the hashtag #caedchat. Or you can review some of the resources I've posted with the hashtag #SDUHSDtech. (Here's a good list of other hashtags, some for education in general, some for subject-matter specific discussions.)
- Share your thoughts: Write a blog, reflecting on your experiences this year. Or contribute to someone else's blog, by writing comments or by writing guest posts. Contact me if you'd like to be able to post to sduhsdtech.blogspot.com. I'd love to hear what you have to say.
- Review resources: My weekly emails are posted here. This blog is not going away. Handouts and recordings from the fall's Web 2.0 sessions are posted here. Slides from the spring's EdTech workshops are posted here. Videos highlighting district teachers' innovative strategies are posted here. Lists of useful websites are available in Diigo for math, science, ELA, social science, world languages, and general edtech. Help files for Google Forms, Blackboard, Google Sites, Turnitin, and other programs are available from the district start page.
- Talk to yourself: Take some time to record screencasts or powerpoints. I have two microphones available to borrow.
- Revise your website: If you're still using Expressions/FrontPage to maintain your website on teachers.sduhsd.net, give some serious thought to switching to Google Sites or to Blackboard. You will thank yourself later.
- Do something different: Doing something outside of education makes you a better person and therefore a better teacher.
Have fun!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)