Friday, November 20, 2015

Be Thankful

So often times in schools, educators tend to focus on what’s NOT working…what’s NOT good…what we do NOT have.  Much of the educational news spotlights issues or sensationalizes stories where someone or some program has faltered.  It is understandable that we focus on the “NOT” kind of things.  Appropriate study of data and trends for the things NOT working enables us to design and implement new or different strategies to make improvements or fix things.

But now let’s take a look at the other side of that fence…and look at what we DO have.  Educators in the schools have a job.  Maybe not one of the highest paying jobs, but we are gainfully employed.  Be thankful.  We have cars and places to live before we come to work.  Be thankful.  We live in a country where we can live, work and play with freedoms that many around the world don’t enjoy.  Be thankful.

We come to work at buildings that are generally well kept, heated and cooled.  We have access to the school cafeteria where meals are available for students and staff members. Be thankful.
We have access to technology in the schools with laptops, tablets and phones.  Our students have access to that technology in the form of devices and the Internet.  Many of them have access at home, but far too many still do not have that access at their homes.  For those that have access away from school…so be thankful.

We have FREE web tools with which to enhance our lessons, and engage our students. We can use these tools to have students blog, be notified or reminded about upcoming events, post to online bulletin boards, partner with parents, create pictorial presentations, assess themselves, remediate, create videos, brainstorm, innovate, think critically, communicate and collaborate outside the walls of the classroom and with other students and schools across the state, nation and the world. Be thankful.

If we have a question, we can pretty much get anything answered through the various search engines on the world-wide-web.  We can organize and record data to show student progress within the programs like PowerSchool and School Net…to make life easier for us.  We have email accounts where we can communicate to virtually anyone anywhere. Be thankful.

I once held up a blank piece of paper at a conference that had only one black dot on it, near the bottom right side of the page. I asked people in the audience “What do you see?”  They replied, “I see a dot on the bottom right side of the page.”  I then told them, “I see the dot as well, and know that I need to work on that to make it mesh with the rest of the page…and that the rest of the page is my classroom.  The dot represents the negatives, the students that misbehave, the things we do NOT have.  I will choose to focus on the things I do have…and be mindful of those that either need my help, or try to drag me down.”

In the old riddle where you see a glass with water up at the midpoint, the question comes up, “Is the glass half empty or half full?”  I say whichever you see, there’s always room for more.  Be thankful.   

Thursday, September 17, 2015

How to Engage Us in the Classroom

Over and over, as we go throughout the school day…visiting schools and co-teaching or modeling lessons, it is so evident that “engagement matters.”
 
Lots of folks have their own ideas of engagement, and we see engagement up and down the scale.  For some it might be a teacher asking questions from time to time during the lecture.  For others, student projects and partnering or small group stations are engaging.  For still others, the room looks like organized chaos, yet everybody is on task.

So as I visited schools this week, I asked middle school students (although these apply to all grade levels) to tell me some ways to engage them in learning.  Although most of these you could have predicted, I think it’s good to be reminded of them.  And besides that, to hear it from students themselves, I think it is more impactful.  Here is the Top Ten List, in no particular order, of what middle school students across several school in my district told me:

  • Let us move around some.  “We don’t want you to let us go crazy, but allowing us to move around the room, sort of energizes us.”  Most students like coming to the board to work a problem or validate their responses.  There is some science to getting up and moving around and getting the blood pumping that helps them function. 

  • Allow us to Communicate and Collaborate.  It’s hard for us to sit still for a long period of time, much less have us to be absolutely quiet for an hour.  Even if it’s as simple as standing and stretching for a minute, and saying something to our friends…it’s better than nothing.  They like it when their teachers say things like, “Turn and Talk to a partner for 15 seconds about…”

  • Let us be Creative.  Even students realize that they will get off track talking about everything except the lesson, but most of them would be focused on the topic if given the chance to work with partners or small groups. Students say they tend to be more creative when they can bounce ideas off of one another.  They say, “Give us a chance to prove we can do it.”

  • Dump the Worksheets.  Yes, it’s the easiest way to complete assignments…but students really don’t like them.  The more simplistic the worksheet (fill in the blank), the less material retained.  “When we go into class and our teacher hands us a worksheet…it’s like, oh no…another worksheet.  Let’s just fill it out and get it over with.”

  • Vary your teaching styles.  Every once in a while, it’s nice for students to know that they will be doing something different than just taking notes or copying from the board…that’s boring.  Most tend to “check-out” mentally after too many lectures…sometimes even before the class starts, because they know that’s what is going to be happening in the class that day.

  • Make sure instructions are clear.  Students admit that they don’t always listen like they should when directions are given…and they miss parts of the instructions.  Said one young lady, “If the teacher gets our attention first, then gives us clear directions, it’s easier.”

  • Students tend to like Rubrics.  Students say that they would rather know up front, what is expected. Students also said that they would love to see a completed project or assignment, where possible, to give them a picture of what their project is to look like when completed.

  • Let us use technology. Technology is sort of where we live.  We know we have to follow school rules as fa as personal devices, but we like to use computers…so give us a change to use those tools.

  • We like hands-on projects.  A student said, “You know that old saying about if I hear it, I remember a certain amount…if I see it I remember a little bit more, and if I do it I remember even more? Well that’s true.” Enough said.

  • Make it Relevant.  Students want to know that what they are doing has some meaning for them other than busy work.  “Telling us how this might help us in the future or where we may have experienced this topic or subject in the past, somehow makes it more real…more valuable to us.”
I say it pays to listen to our customers!

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Getting Geared Up for the New School Year

Unpack the boxes.  Restack the books.  Put up the posters.  Organize the desks. Refresh and re-energize your lessons…and don’t forget to dust off the computers.

Hopefully you were able to investigate some of the tools introduced at your summer classes and conferences.  There are so many tools out there.  Be open to new ideas and new ways to teach while you integrate technology.  Be willing to take a risk into the technology world.  It is exciting to learn about some of the tools out there; and then to anticipate how you might use them in your classroom. 
Just remember this:

1. There IS plenty of time to “Integrate” technology.  Rely on your Tech Coach to help mesh the technology in with a teacher’s lessons.
2.      Including the Tech Coach during planning helps to streamline the process of technology integration. 
3. Make sure the tools you choose enhance the learning, and are not just “fun” tools that don’t contribute to the learning objectives.
4. Investigate the compatibility of the tools and the browsers to make sure all runs smooth on the day you want to use the tools.  Do a trial run “as a student” a few days before.
5. Understand that because it is a tool and a device, there may be some issues that prevent smooth operations.  Be sure to anticipate and know how to fix issues.  You might even have a “paper and pencil” alternative ready just in case.
6. Be sure to check the Permissions in the Terms of Service of the web tool to make sure your students are legally using the tool and have parental permissions as needed.
7. Start with the basics.  Use easy tools at first, or use tools that you have used before to get your students comfortable with the technology integration.
8. Keep it educational.  Don’t give students license to just “browse” on the internet.  This usually leads to sites that are not related to school, games that require high bandwidth use, or perhaps even inappropriate sites.
9. Find ways to combine tools in projects, and encourage problem-based learning through research.  Have students use technology to think critically, collaborate, and be creative and innovative.
10. Be ready to share what you have learned with your colleagues…and to have students share their work outside the wall of your classroom.

Call on your Technology Coaches to do model lessons, investigate possible tools and interests you have for the students, and to co-teach in your classroom.  Have a great year.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Technology Class - MORE than Just Technology

I need to take a class to get some recertification points ore hours for my teaching certificate.  I know, I’ll take a Technology Class.  Well guess what?  A Technology class is MORE than just technology.
There has to be a paradigm shift from “Show me a cool tool to use with my class.” – to – “Let me show you my lesson, and I want you to help me find a way to integrate technology into my session.”  Once that occurs, the mind has been opened to a different tactic and strategy for using technology with your students.

What laws govern the use of the Internet?  Well let’s see…there’s CIPA, COPPA, and FERPA.  I suggest you do a little research into what those mean for you.

In the process of taking a technology class, we should also take time to review good teaching strategies.  The Nine Differentiated Instruction Strategies in the book, “Classroom Instruction that Works” by Robert Marzano (et. al) is an excellent source.

The principle of TPACK that includes a summary review of Technology, Knowledge and Pedagogy is a wonderful place to refocus.

The International Society of Technology Educators (ISTE) Standards for using technology in the classroom gives a great perspective of what is important for Administrators, Teachers, Curriculum coaches and Students.  The Digital Citizenship section alone is a must.

After there is a basic understanding of the foundations of technology in the classroom, then, and only then, will the learner and their learner’s students be able to understand a appreciate the use of the many tools that are out there for us to enhance what we do in the class.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

What does an “Instructional Technology Coach” do?

     As Spring is upon us, and the weather is beginning to warm up, you may have noticed more and more people taking advantage of the nicer weather.  One way in which many people take advantage of this time of year, is they uncover the grill, scrub last year’s food remnants off of the cooking surface, and fire up some chicken, sausage, steak, or whatever delights their palate.  Further adding to the enjoyment of the first cook-out or barbeque of the year is the chance to enjoy this time with family and friends.  As people open up their backyards to neighbors, loved ones, co-workers, or to someone they just met--- the banter, conversation, and environment is often light and enjoyable.  During these social happenings, it is common that someone will ask you what you do for a living.  Most people can answer with a word or two, and the nature of the job is understood, (i.e. accountant, doctor, lawyer, pharmacist, waiter, etc.).

     However, when I am asked this question and answer “Instructional Technology Coach” must people look at me quizzically or ask me some of the following: Do you fix computers? So you are in the IT department? Or some will ask me questions about their personal computer/wireless network/printer at their home.
  
     In actuality our jobs as Instructional Technology Coaches is very fluid and often difficult (like most jobs) to sum up in a sentence or two.  I often wish I could bring people around with me so that they can see and experience the nature of the job.  However, since it is highly unlikely that I can bring my neighbors along with me throughout the schools, here is a quick peek into our year that might shed some insight on this subject.
  
     If you travel back in time several months to the end of July and beginning of August you will find Marc, Jenny, Keith, and Doug in the office planning for the upcoming school year.  We had recently been informed that our District now has Office 365 and we knew this is something that we wanted to explore and, if valuable, get our teachers and students to utilize.  However, none of us knew anything about this new product, let alone, were we prepared to offer professional development focused on it.  
Fast forward to now, we have all become very versed in the world of Office 365.  We can navigate you to  the O365 portal, and the apps you will find there.  We can tell you all about OneDrive and the massive amount of storage space it offers.  We can demonstrate how to share a document with colleagues and students.  We can have you practice editing documents in real-time with someone who is in a different location.   We can sync OneDrive to your computer.  We can show you how to get 5 installs for the Microsoft 2013 Suite on personal devicesh.  We can show you where students can access their email accounts and how they can participate in and contribute to collaborative learning.  Most importantly, we can have an educated conversation with teachers and administration about how we can use Office 365 to move learning beyond the walls of the school building
However, this was not always the case.  A few short months ago, the tech coaches barely even knew where to go to log into Office 365. Hence the journey of self-learning and discovery began.  And yes I say journey-because the hours spent for us to take a massive concept, understand it ourselves, and make it understandable to teachers in a 30 minute professional development sessions was borderline countless.

     We started out by reaching out to Microsoft themselves.  Through a series of webinars we began to gather information regarding this product.  With each webinar we found ourselves developing and asking more and more questions.  These questions drove us to the depths of the internet (most notably YouTube) and self-exploration in an attempt to really grasp this concept.
 
     Often times we felt like we figured something out, and then would take a step back.  We communicated with one another often, many times calling or texting each other at home to discuss Office 365.  We shared what we found with one another and posed questions to anyone we thought could help shed some light on our understanding of Office 365.  This process went on for months, and as we kept investigating, our understanding was became more clear.  What we discovered is that we have a product here with some awesome educational benefits.

     Now,  how do we take what took us months and hours upon hours to discover and learn, and be able to teach this concept to others in 20-30 minute segments?  To me, this sounds just  like what teachers do everyday, right?  You have a concept with a large amount of material, you have to sift through it to deem what is most important relating to the objective, and then you have to teach it in an understandable, concise and engaging manner.

     Well fast forward to present day, and we have just completed our roll out of this concept to all elementary, intermediate, middle, and high schools in our district.  The feedback we have received thus far has been very positive and we, along with teachers, are discovering new uses with Office 365 daily.
 
     So, back to the original question:  What does an “Instructional Technology Coach” do; or for that matter anyone involved in education?  We continually learn and discover, seek out new knowledge, and share what we have learned.  Our focus is always centered on making learning meaningful, engaging, and exciting.

- Doug

Friday, February 27, 2015

Put the PERFORMANCE in the TASK

While students are in the classroom, we push them to acquire the knowledge in the standards, so they will be ready for not only the state and national testing that comes towards the end of the year, but to prepare them for the next level of education. During this time we have in the classroom with them, we push content knowledge, new skills, and application of the new learning.  Performance Tasks provide meaningful strategies for communication and collaboration, critical thinking and problem solving, research and information fluency, and creativity and innovation…all integrated into an engaging lesson.

I have been in classrooms where there are reluctant learners, and seen those same students fully engaged in a Performance Task.  In a PT they may watch several videos, research the web, read pertinent articles and even create and take tests.  It seems that the integration of technology along with allowing them to collaborate on assignments and projects, is just the ticket for these, along with most of the student population in your school.  Let’s face it, they are social beings, so why not use that to our advantage…and theirs.  Start with a typically unmotivated or reluctant learner…toss in a highly motivated student that is a regimented worker, along with a free-spirited creative kid, and you end up with some pretty exciting learning happening before your very eyes.  And the creative presentations they come up with are astounding.

We know that some students would like to be “spoon fed” with the how’s and where’s and when’s of an assignment.  There is another group of students that you just have to give the task once, and watch them go to work.  The Performance Task hits on all points of both these kinds of learners.  What we have to determine as instructors is when to press a little more on the gas, when to pump the brakes, and when to get out of the highway and let them drive.

Performance Tasks help strike a balance between a traditional fact delivery and the more non-traditional discovery method.  Of course, both are valuable and both require guidance, but the discovery method employed by a Performance Task tends to differentiate the learning while connecting the dots with multiple strategies and multiple modalities.    

Teachers don’t have to give up any of the units of study they already have planned, but instead, utilize the students’ prior knowledge and mesh it with a real-world, authentic task…and give them an end project to work toward that satisfies standard mastery. Real-world tasks are after all, based in curriculum…allowing teachers to help design what works for best for them…and making the whole experience more meaningful for students. 

Performance Tasks use prior skills and knowledge to introduce new content, enhance a unit of study or even extend the learning outside of the classroom.  Students, given the opportunity, will initiate communication in real and non-real time, communicate and collaborate with learners of diverse cultural backgrounds, form collaborative teams to solve real-world problems, and create original works.

Students will use multiple resources to plan, design, and execute real-world problems, use technology to collaborate and solve, authentic problems, develop and answer open-ended questions using higher order thinking skills.

Students will research to find and select appropriate digital tools to assemble, evaluate, and utilize information…then use that information to accomplish real-world tasks.  Tasks that are now real to them!

Students will apply critical thinking, research methods, and communication tools to create original work…collaborate more effectively…and reach beyond the classroom to create original work.

Now THAT’S a meaningful performance!

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Let's Send a Tweet

Why is Twitter a good education resource?  Mostly because it opens your world to people that you probably will never meet personally, but will connect with because of an interest you share.  It will open your world to ideas, strategies, innovations and new tools to help you in the classroom.

People on Twitter…the right people…are constantly sharing and as you follow them, their thoughts, pictures and articles come right across your Feed.   I will share my suggestions of some folks to follow later in this Blog Post, and hope having the names will help you as you get started.

We, the GCSD Tech Coaches, are always taking pictures and sharing the great things going on in our schools.  This provides a great way to do so.  Don’t you want to see your class mentioned on Twitter?   In the next edition of The Tech Connect, we want to highlight and spread the word of all of you that are on Twitter, to help you grow your Professional Learning Network.  If you area already on Twitter and want to share, email your Twitter name to Keith Brown…so that we can compile a list to share. In the subject line put “Twitter.”

Once somebody on your Twitter list has shared, I suggest entering their names in your Tweet using the “@” sign in front of their name.  This is much like a Tag on Facebook or Instagram…and brings attention to those individuals so they will take a look at your Tweet.  This is a good way to grow your followers and grow your professional learning network.  This is what a Tweet coming from my account might look like:

Great things going on in the classroom today as we learned how to build websites in Mr. Brown’s class today using Weebly @FrechetTech @ItsThatJenny @FreshD85 @weebly

Notice how we tagged Marc, Jenny and Doug (our other Tech Coaches) and Weebly (the website tool).  They in turn can either Retweet it or mark it as a Favorite…which spreads your Tweet, ideas and your Twitter Name even more.

Let’s get signed up.  Go to www.twitter.com and fill out the forms with the appropriate information and then click “Sign up for Twitter.”

When it comes to choosing a username – consider a couple of things:  Make the name easy to share.  (A long or complicated name isn’t easy for new followers to remember).  Think about the name you choose…you want it to be one you can live with, and that represents you and a majority of your subject matter.  You can change it later if you want.  Go ahead and click on “Create my account”
As you begin looking for people to follow, start locally.  Find people in your vocation or areas of interest that you know.  Perhaps some other teachers, or work friends in your building.  Next, click on the magnifying glass and search by subject.  As you read interesting articles online or in newspapers, look for the “Twitter Handles” of the authors, and start following them.

If you follow some of the celebrities out there, you will get lots of drama and here-say, so be prepared for that if you choose to keep up with them on your Twitter.

Here are some good folks to follow locally and nationally:
@FrechetTECH
@FreshD85
@ItsThatJenny
@KTech8
@LessonToolbox
@Teaching STEM
@gatesed
@NASA_Technology
@WeAreTeachers
@EducationSC
@educationweek
@edutopia
@Edudemic
@rmbyrne
@AngelaMaiers
@KleinErin

To start following someone, simply click the FOLLOW button next to their name or profile
After you have gotten on Twitter and found a few folks to follow, change your Profile Picture.  This alone will help you get followers.  People identify with a smiling face rather than a cartoon or some other weird picture.

Next, edit your Profile Page.  People will tend to follow you based off what you have there.  List interests, hobbies, profession, etc. there.  People tend to check there before they follow you or follow you back.

Make sure you follow all of our Tech Coaches…we can assist you with how to use Twitter when we come to your schools.  @FrechetTECH, @FreshD85, @ItsThatJenny and @KTech8
Now let’s send out a TWEET by clicking on the box in the upper right hand corner of the page…it will look like a box with a pen in it.  You have to keep your Tweets to 140 characters or less.  The box you type into will give you a countdown.  I suggest leaving at least 10 characters shy of the allowed 140.  That way, when someone wants to Retweet it, their name will be inserted, and they will have room to do so.

So come on…Log on…create a Twitter Account…and start enjoying the vast array of resources available at your fingertips.