In terms of tools for collaboration, there are more options than most can keep up with and more are created every day. However, Google has created a tool that can't be beat in terms of simplicity: Google Docs. With this tool, you can create, edit and collaborate on documents (spreadsheets & presentations too) both synchronously and asynchronously. Check out this video:
If you would like to know more, or if you would like help with setting one up for your class(es) or your teacher team, let me know!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
How Does Your Team Stack Up?
Today, I read an article from the Harvard Graduate School of Education newsletter that made me think...and wonder. The topic of the article was the effectiveness of teacher teams with regards to improvement of teaching and learning. We all know that our focus for most meetings should center primarily on teaching and learning and that we should all be lifelong learners, willing to learn more and share our knowledge with others. However, the article was generally an indictment of teacher teams, because they often fall into "predictable pitfalls" when it comes to promoting our most important objective. The reasons are (as indicated in this article): poor use of common planning time, failure to pursue expert advice, a focus on issues that are peripheral to learning, absence of clear goals, or lack of team accountability for the success of their students."
In contrast, they described the five conditions that good teacher teams exhibit as follows:
* Task Focus- primarily on teaching and learning
* Leadership- all members are leaders. Instructional expertise, no matter how experienced, is valued and utilized.
* Collaborative Climate- Trust, communication (two-way) and synergy is always there. Conflict is welcomed and handled professionally and collegially.
* Personal Accountability- the primary goal is performance improvement for the members and for the group. Expectations are clearly articulated and shared.
* Structures & Processes- Are goals clearly defined and does the team adapt the processes for meeting these goals based upon student needs?
You can read the entire article by using the link below:
http://www.hepg.org/hel/article/519#home
My feeling is that there are many teacher teams at Ashbury College that meet these criteria and maybe even exceed them. How does your team stack up?
In contrast, they described the five conditions that good teacher teams exhibit as follows:
* Task Focus- primarily on teaching and learning
* Leadership- all members are leaders. Instructional expertise, no matter how experienced, is valued and utilized.
* Collaborative Climate- Trust, communication (two-way) and synergy is always there. Conflict is welcomed and handled professionally and collegially.
* Personal Accountability- the primary goal is performance improvement for the members and for the group. Expectations are clearly articulated and shared.
* Structures & Processes- Are goals clearly defined and does the team adapt the processes for meeting these goals based upon student needs?
You can read the entire article by using the link below:
http://www.hepg.org/hel/article/519#home
My feeling is that there are many teacher teams at Ashbury College that meet these criteria and maybe even exceed them. How does your team stack up?
Friday, December 16, 2011
Sweet Math Applets
Check out these math applets designed for interactive use on your SMART Board! Let me know if you find one you can use!
http://www.ronblond.com/M10/index.html
http://www.ronblond.com/M10/index.html
Save the Trees!
Last year, I was able to take a hard look at our copying habits and copier needs at this school. I was dumbfounded when I learned the facts about the sheer volume of copies that are made here (at a Green School). We average more than 2.5 million copies per year with some individuals copying enough to reproduce complete textbooks per student in the first three months of the school year alone! The numbers are staggering, not to mention the frustrations this causes when copiers are down largely due to incredible use. What's even more vexing is that we live and work in a day and age where it is possible to run a virtually paper-free classroom (and perhaps a largely paper-free school).
At our fingertips, we all have online tools that would ease our dependency on paper:
Wikis
Google Docs
Class Management Systems such as Moodle or the Podium
Blogs
Turnitin.com
Drop Box
Word processing & email
And the list goes on....
I decided to post about this topic today because I recently read an article proclaiming that paper (use) had a negative impact on students. Specifically, a negative impact on students' willingness to edit, rewrite or revise their own work. The article quoted Tom Whitby, college professor and education blogger, as saying, "Word processing enables kids to write at a higher level, and they are more likely to make corrections and rewrites when using a word processor. We write in a word processing world and our students should learn in the same way." Now, I'm not 100% convinced by that argument. However, the article went on to talk about how likely kids were to want to revise work that they spent hours writing by hand. The question was posed: When was the last time you wrote anything of any length by hand? How likely would you be to want to rewrite all of it because one part needed changes or in order to make additions to content? Why would our students be any more inclined to do so?
So, are there ways that we could do more things online or using the tools that not only support our efforts to be a Green School, but are more conducive to revision and learning than hand written work and reproducibles? Let's challenge each other to find one innovation that we can use in our daily work to reduce our paper consumption and support 21st century skill-building during the 2012 calendar year!
At our fingertips, we all have online tools that would ease our dependency on paper:
Wikis
Google Docs
Class Management Systems such as Moodle or the Podium
Blogs
Turnitin.com
Drop Box
Word processing & email
And the list goes on....
I decided to post about this topic today because I recently read an article proclaiming that paper (use) had a negative impact on students. Specifically, a negative impact on students' willingness to edit, rewrite or revise their own work. The article quoted Tom Whitby, college professor and education blogger, as saying, "Word processing enables kids to write at a higher level, and they are more likely to make corrections and rewrites when using a word processor. We write in a word processing world and our students should learn in the same way." Now, I'm not 100% convinced by that argument. However, the article went on to talk about how likely kids were to want to revise work that they spent hours writing by hand. The question was posed: When was the last time you wrote anything of any length by hand? How likely would you be to want to rewrite all of it because one part needed changes or in order to make additions to content? Why would our students be any more inclined to do so?
So, are there ways that we could do more things online or using the tools that not only support our efforts to be a Green School, but are more conducive to revision and learning than hand written work and reproducibles? Let's challenge each other to find one innovation that we can use in our daily work to reduce our paper consumption and support 21st century skill-building during the 2012 calendar year!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
True Technology Integration: A Clear Description
Most of us (even though we are digital novices in many respects) spend our lives completely immersed in technology and would not know what to do if we didn't have our "tools". We check email multiple times per day, we send text messages, make phone calls via wireless technology, surf the web, conduct research, look up phone numbers, get directions, communicate and stay connected, make presentations, compose letters, keep lists, create memories through digital photos, read newspapers, and the list goes on... No one has to remind us to integrate technology into our lives. We just do it...we have to. We don't do all of the things from this list as a way of "looking" like we are members of this century. The irony is that so many teachers have to be prodded and urged to ensure that their students are required and have the access to the very same "life tools" that we use without thinking. Suddenly, when it comes to using technology in the classroom, the tools are reduced to slightly more than gimmicks or attention grabbers in order to appeal to the optics of technology integration. It's funny, really.
So, what does real technology integration in the classroom look like? I recently read this description in a blog post and, to me, it's the ideal. Teacher, Andrew Marcinek, writes, "At the beginning of most units, I present a concept or idea through a video, image or article that leads to a discussion, provokes their thinking and drives further inquiry into the subject at hand. They present understanding through a video, a presentation, and by creating a website or posting to their blog. They're employing critical analysis and critical thinking by seeking out the answers to the questions they generate. They are discerning between credible and bogus information and understanding how to properly cite, organize and share their findings. They are creating surveys to elicit quantitative data and creating support for their assertions. They are building relationships and making connections. In every scenario, their questions and curiosity motivate their learning, while the technology tools available give them the opportunity to connect, share and promote their work a wider audience." http://www.edutopia.org/blog/PBL-digital-citizens-andrew-marcinek
What Mr. Marcinek has figured out is that he starts with the end in mind. What does he want his students to learn, create, understand, etc? Then he allows them the access to the tools that they would need in order to meet those goals. They just happen to be technological in nature. However, the technology does not drive the curriculum, the curriculum drives (and is dependent upon) the technology.
So, what does real technology integration in the classroom look like? I recently read this description in a blog post and, to me, it's the ideal. Teacher, Andrew Marcinek, writes, "At the beginning of most units, I present a concept or idea through a video, image or article that leads to a discussion, provokes their thinking and drives further inquiry into the subject at hand. They present understanding through a video, a presentation, and by creating a website or posting to their blog. They're employing critical analysis and critical thinking by seeking out the answers to the questions they generate. They are discerning between credible and bogus information and understanding how to properly cite, organize and share their findings. They are creating surveys to elicit quantitative data and creating support for their assertions. They are building relationships and making connections. In every scenario, their questions and curiosity motivate their learning, while the technology tools available give them the opportunity to connect, share and promote their work a wider audience." http://www.edutopia.org/blog/PBL-digital-citizens-andrew-marcinek
What Mr. Marcinek has figured out is that he starts with the end in mind. What does he want his students to learn, create, understand, etc? Then he allows them the access to the tools that they would need in order to meet those goals. They just happen to be technological in nature. However, the technology does not drive the curriculum, the curriculum drives (and is dependent upon) the technology.
Tech. Tuesday- December 13th
I'm keeping it light today. Here's a really fun web2.0 application that you might want to use with your classes. It's called Blabberize. You may have seen stuff like this via e-cards or on the Conan O'Brian Show. In a nutshell, you upload a photo, outline the mouth, record a sound, and presto......you have "Blabberized." Check out my little demo above!
You can then download to your computer or simply keep it in your Blabberize account. Accounts are free and it is simple to sign up. For more information, go to: http://blabberize.com/
Some teachers are using this to bring Discovery Ed. images to life, for Readers' Theater, for student presentations, etc. Can you think of something you could use it for? If so, let me know and I'd be happy to help you get ready!
Thinking "Appy" Thoughts!
Here are some iPad Apps that you might like:
Story Patch: Students can create their own picture books. http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/story-patch/id388613157?mt=8#
Strip Designer: Allows teachers or students to create their own comic strips using their own photos.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/strip-designer/id314780738?mt=8#
The Elements: A Visual Exploration: With this app, students can actually see all of the elements from the periodic table. http://itunes.apple.com/app/the-elements-a-visual-exploration/id364147847?ign-mpt=uo%3D6&mt=8
Shakespeare: This app includes the complete works of Shakespeare as well as a glossary, portraits and searchable content. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/shakespeare/id285035416?mt=8
If you would like to use one or all of these with your classes, let me or I.T. know and we'll set the iPads up.
Friday, December 9, 2011
How Innovative Are You?
Not long ago, I came across a post by Bill Ferriter about one of the key characteristics of innovative organizations. Based upon The Innovator's DNA (2011), the most important feature is the commitment to hiring innovative people. From that notion, Ferriter composed 5 suggested interview questions. I plan to keep these questions to go along with others that I like to use when conducting interviews, but I thought I would share them with you (condensed version). Ask yourself:
1. Think about a lesson that you have tinkered with over the years. What did the lesson originally look like? How did you change it over time? How did the changes impact your students? What did you learn about teaching and learning from those instructional successes and failures?
2. How do YOU learn? Reading? Writing? Practicing? Who are the most important people that you currently learn with? What have they taught you and what have you taught them?
3. What well-established professional practice are you skeptical about? Why do you doubt it? Can you give tangible examples of times/places where this practice has let you or your students down?
4. What is the most interesting idea you've learned outside of education? Can you find any connections between that idea and your work in school? Can that idea change any of the work you are doing with your students, colleagues or peers?
5. What other profession are you most curious about? What about it captures your imagination? Would working in that field keep you energized? How does that profession compare to education?
I'd love to hear your comments!
1. Think about a lesson that you have tinkered with over the years. What did the lesson originally look like? How did you change it over time? How did the changes impact your students? What did you learn about teaching and learning from those instructional successes and failures?
2. How do YOU learn? Reading? Writing? Practicing? Who are the most important people that you currently learn with? What have they taught you and what have you taught them?
3. What well-established professional practice are you skeptical about? Why do you doubt it? Can you give tangible examples of times/places where this practice has let you or your students down?
4. What is the most interesting idea you've learned outside of education? Can you find any connections between that idea and your work in school? Can that idea change any of the work you are doing with your students, colleagues or peers?
5. What other profession are you most curious about? What about it captures your imagination? Would working in that field keep you energized? How does that profession compare to education?
I'd love to hear your comments!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Great Interactive Lesson for the SMART Board
I just stumbled across this excellent interactive lesson for science classes. With this lesson, students would "create vaccines" for various pathogens. The lesson is ready to go...all you need is a SMART Board. Use the link below. Then click "Launch Interactive" to check it out or use it in your class.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/making-vaccines.html
If you use it or have an opinion about it, please be sure to share your comments!
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/making-vaccines.html
If you use it or have an opinion about it, please be sure to share your comments!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Tech. Tuesday- December 6th
I love the web 2.0 application called VoiceThread! With VoiceThread your students can have collaborative conversations around visuals. Basically, students or teachers post what amounts to slide shows that contain photos, drawings, videos, documents, etc. and the rest of the class can comment on the slides via voice, text, audio file or video file. None of this requires any software installation! Users can also instruct while commenting using the "doodle" feature. You can find VoiceThread at: http://voicethread.com/
Here is a demo! Give it a try!
As always, if you see something on this blog that you would like to know more about, I am happy to work with you 1:1 or in groups.
"APP-ly Speaking"
Here are some iPad apps that you might want to use in your classroom:
Here is a demo! Give it a try!
As always, if you see something on this blog that you would like to know more about, I am happy to work with you 1:1 or in groups.
"APP-ly Speaking"
Here are some iPad apps that you might want to use in your classroom:
1. A pretty good graphing calculator: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/free-graphing-calculator/id378009553?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D2
2. 3-D Models of Human Anatomy: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/human-anatomy-free/id430839289?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D2
3. Game for learning French (geared towards Elementary-aged students):
4. New APP for viewing TED Talks:
Why is Everyone Flipping Over the "Flipped Classroom?"
If I could condense what I have learned at Ashbury College it would be these four items:
1. Always Question "Why?"
2. Don't add to my workload.
3. We don't DO technology for the sake of doing it.
4. There is never enough time.
Armed with these truths and given a title that includes the word "innovation," I have begun to read everything I can get my hands on about what schools like ours are doing to stay up with the times and provide the best possible learning experience for students, while satisfying the the conditions above at the same time. Because of this, I can't get the notion of the "flipped classroom" out of my mind.
The concept is simple: Replace in-class lecture style learning experiences in the classroom with teacher-created videos that the students can view on their own at home. Then use the classroom time to actively engage with the concepts and the materials and do what would normally be "homework." Can this concept satisfy the four "conditions?" Let's see...
1. Why?- With this model, teachers are able to switch roles from the "Sage on the Stage," to the "Guide on the Side." Class time can be used to work with students individually, in small groups or to have large group discussions where students apply the concepts they learned about on the videos. One-size fits all lectures can be replaced with truly interactive and differentiated learning experiences. The videos are not the key to making this concept work. Instead, it is the opportunity for individualized class time with the teacher that makes it work. Teachers are able to increase their contact with their students and students are given a situation whereby they can truly take ownership of their learning.
2. What will this do to my workload? While some time will be committed to the creation of the videos (or locating ones that already exist), perhaps this can come from the time teachers set aside to plan for their lecture-style lessons. However, it will most definitely save time in terms of helping students who are absent due to illness or sports get caught up. Those kids will still have the benefit of "seeing" the lesson. Perhaps it will also decrease the amount of time teachers spend giving help in the form of "extra help"- which is really just another form of the individualized attention that teachers can now give in the regular classroom. I love this quote from the blog entitled, The Daily Riff, "Offloading some information transfer allows a classroom to develop that understands the need for teacher accessibility to overlap with cognitive load. That is, when students are assimilating information, creating new ideas, etc. (upper end of Bloom's Taxonomy), the teacher is present to help scaffold them through that process." (The Flipped Class Manifest, Dec. 1, 2011)
3. We don't DO technology for the sake of doing it. The beauty of this concept is that it isn't about the technology at all. It does not matter which software, application, web tool, etc. that a teacher uses. What matters is the quality of the application of the new material in the classroom. A teacher can use older technology that he/she already knows and already has access to, or he/she can learn something new and "improved" in the process. The technology, however, is just a means to an end.
4. There is never enough time. Video it once, and it's done. Now students have the benefit of being able to go back on their own and listen to the lecture again or they can stop and start the video as needed, in order to process at their own pace. Most teachers who are doing this have reported that they actually found they had much more time than before. Troy Cockrum, an English Teacher in Indianapolis summarized it best when he said, "Several teachers I've talked to say they've run into the same problem: If you're not prepared for it, you run out of stuff to do because you've never been able to deliver that much content in a year." ("How YouTube is Changing the Classroom" by Kyle Stokes, Oct. 12, 2011).
Check out these videos that might do a better job of describing the "Flipped Classroom" than I did.
Is this idea a good one for your classroom? I know that at least one of our colleagues is currently working on creating some videos in order to try it out. If you would like to do the same, I would love to help you get started!
1. Always Question "Why?"
2. Don't add to my workload.
3. We don't DO technology for the sake of doing it.
4. There is never enough time.
Armed with these truths and given a title that includes the word "innovation," I have begun to read everything I can get my hands on about what schools like ours are doing to stay up with the times and provide the best possible learning experience for students, while satisfying the the conditions above at the same time. Because of this, I can't get the notion of the "flipped classroom" out of my mind.
The concept is simple: Replace in-class lecture style learning experiences in the classroom with teacher-created videos that the students can view on their own at home. Then use the classroom time to actively engage with the concepts and the materials and do what would normally be "homework." Can this concept satisfy the four "conditions?" Let's see...
1. Why?- With this model, teachers are able to switch roles from the "Sage on the Stage," to the "Guide on the Side." Class time can be used to work with students individually, in small groups or to have large group discussions where students apply the concepts they learned about on the videos. One-size fits all lectures can be replaced with truly interactive and differentiated learning experiences. The videos are not the key to making this concept work. Instead, it is the opportunity for individualized class time with the teacher that makes it work. Teachers are able to increase their contact with their students and students are given a situation whereby they can truly take ownership of their learning.
2. What will this do to my workload? While some time will be committed to the creation of the videos (or locating ones that already exist), perhaps this can come from the time teachers set aside to plan for their lecture-style lessons. However, it will most definitely save time in terms of helping students who are absent due to illness or sports get caught up. Those kids will still have the benefit of "seeing" the lesson. Perhaps it will also decrease the amount of time teachers spend giving help in the form of "extra help"- which is really just another form of the individualized attention that teachers can now give in the regular classroom. I love this quote from the blog entitled, The Daily Riff, "Offloading some information transfer allows a classroom to develop that understands the need for teacher accessibility to overlap with cognitive load. That is, when students are assimilating information, creating new ideas, etc. (upper end of Bloom's Taxonomy), the teacher is present to help scaffold them through that process." (The Flipped Class Manifest, Dec. 1, 2011)
3. We don't DO technology for the sake of doing it. The beauty of this concept is that it isn't about the technology at all. It does not matter which software, application, web tool, etc. that a teacher uses. What matters is the quality of the application of the new material in the classroom. A teacher can use older technology that he/she already knows and already has access to, or he/she can learn something new and "improved" in the process. The technology, however, is just a means to an end.
4. There is never enough time. Video it once, and it's done. Now students have the benefit of being able to go back on their own and listen to the lecture again or they can stop and start the video as needed, in order to process at their own pace. Most teachers who are doing this have reported that they actually found they had much more time than before. Troy Cockrum, an English Teacher in Indianapolis summarized it best when he said, "Several teachers I've talked to say they've run into the same problem: If you're not prepared for it, you run out of stuff to do because you've never been able to deliver that much content in a year." ("How YouTube is Changing the Classroom" by Kyle Stokes, Oct. 12, 2011).
Check out these videos that might do a better job of describing the "Flipped Classroom" than I did.
Is this idea a good one for your classroom? I know that at least one of our colleagues is currently working on creating some videos in order to try it out. If you would like to do the same, I would love to help you get started!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Curious About the "Curiosity Box"
This idea came from one of my favorite bloggers: Bill Ferriter, Author of the blog entitled: The Tempered Radical. His "Curiosity Box" grew out of the need to find a way to help his students think more creatively and the suggestion that creativity and innovative thinking comes from forcing oneself to make "metaphorical connections" between what one is doing and what seem to be unrelated objects or things.
Here is how to create a "Curiosity Box."
1. Get a box (How are we doing so far?)
2. Start collecting some of the weirdest objects you can find to go into the box. You can ask your students to "donate" items as well. Some suggestions are: Happy Meal toys, Dollar Store "gems" or any item that you no longer have a use for.
3. Put these in the box (Surprised you with this one huh?)
Next, you have your students go to the "Curiosity Box" after a particularly important lesson, introduction to a new concept or at the end of a unit. The students will choose an item from the "Curiosity Box" and then find metaphorical connections between the object they chose and the concept or content you have just studied. They can do this individually, in pairs or in groups. You can even have a little more fun with this and have them present their connection to the rest of the class.
If you would like to read more about this idea, or download some handouts, use this link to The Tempered Radical blog. http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/the_tempered_radical/2011/09/teaching-innovation-with-the-curiosity-box.html
Here is how to create a "Curiosity Box."
1. Get a box (How are we doing so far?)
2. Start collecting some of the weirdest objects you can find to go into the box. You can ask your students to "donate" items as well. Some suggestions are: Happy Meal toys, Dollar Store "gems" or any item that you no longer have a use for.
3. Put these in the box (Surprised you with this one huh?)
Next, you have your students go to the "Curiosity Box" after a particularly important lesson, introduction to a new concept or at the end of a unit. The students will choose an item from the "Curiosity Box" and then find metaphorical connections between the object they chose and the concept or content you have just studied. They can do this individually, in pairs or in groups. You can even have a little more fun with this and have them present their connection to the rest of the class.
If you would like to read more about this idea, or download some handouts, use this link to The Tempered Radical blog. http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/the_tempered_radical/2011/09/teaching-innovation-with-the-curiosity-box.html
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