There are so many web tools out there that have educational value, are easy to work with, and are fun and engaging for students. Students love the interaction with the computer. Whether it’s a laptop, a touch-pad or a phone device, more and more interaction on these devices is becoming the norm.
What makes the difference, however, is whether or not the devices are being used as a way to occupy students’ “free time” in the classroom or for the early finishers, or used as reward for various things. I put the words “free time” in quotes on purpose…I don’t believe in teachers giving students “free time” where there is supposed to be instruction or practice of newly learned objectives. I am OK with the use of devices for early finishers, as long as it’s not to play some type of Arcade Game. Having students earn time to work on devices should go hand in hand with past, present or future learning, and in an organized manner. I like to call them ACD’s…or Activity Choice Days…but, I digress.
Since so many districts across the country have gone to a one-to-one system, where every student has their own device, doing their own work, research and projects. I think it is more important than ever to teach them how to work together. Expanding the number of devices is great, but let’s not lose the collaboration skill that we worked on so diligently before all of these devices became a part of our daily school activities.
Fortunately, there are tools out there that that have plenty of ways to share and collaborate. Without trying to name all of them, for fear of not mentioning a good one that folks out there use and endorse, I will share the one we have made use of in our district. We have the Microsoft Office 365 package. There are so many Apps in the O365 suite that allow for collaboration. Just recently, a teacher asked me to help her in the classroom with having students create a group project. Working and planning with the teacher, we shared the tools, created the groups, decided on the basic parameters of the project, and created the rubric.
We hoped the small groups would work together and figure a way to collaborate thoroughly on the project without us telling them exactly how…since some of the work would have to be done at home, meaning working independently…or did it? Because of the previous work we’d done with Office 365, one student in the first class of the day, asked out loud if they could create their project and share it with each other using O365. We were thrilled and told them ‘Certainly.” It caught on like wildfire. Those that were very comfortable with how to make this happen, readily helped all of the other groups get on board to collaborate online as well. Watching this “help” session was so fulfilling, seeing them excited to lend a hand to their fellow classmates. Leaving the classroom and mingling in the halls, the news spread quickly, and all of the classes for the rest of the day wanted to follow suit.
So now these students are working online, working as a group at school, working independently at home, yet working together online on a “live” project.
Because of the way this teacher was open to letting the students work in groups, and be innovative thinkers, they became a “Collaboration Nation.”
A fusion of lowcountry technology and instruction
Friday, November 18, 2016
Friday, May 13, 2016
Getting Ready for a Tech Fair
A school district’s Technology Fair brings about many emotions for teachers and students. Anxiousness, excitement, anxiety, and restlessness. Now understand, that these can be both positive and negative…depending on how you spin it.
We typically hold our Technology Fair at the end of the school year. Keep in mind that there are so many things going on at the end of the school year, and this issue in itself can cause one to be stressed about participating in the Tech Fair. There is State Standardized testing, MAP testing, End of Course testing, teacher evaluation final reviews, teacher–administrative conferences, awards programs, District Art Shows, Academic Programs, Junior Scholars, and concerts and athletic banquets…not to mention having to get grades in and notes to the permanent records.
With the newer approach to testing online, computers are imaged, updated and sequestered for much of the testing time, which can last from two to four weeks. When a school doesn’t have enough computers for all to test in a shorter time frame, or the infrastructure to handle the extreme band width, it is just going to take a longer time.
That being said, computers may be held in a secure place to insure they are in proper working order for the testing, and kept away from students for a time. If this time happens to coincide with the request for computers from teachers and student…it becomes stressful; especially if lessons, activities or technology projects are planned.
Well, take heart, there is good news. Being involved in this process for several years now, I began to tell teachers that their Tech Fair projects, and those of the students should be happening all year long. When you integrate technology in the classroom from the beginning of the school year, students benefit. They are more familiar with the keyboard and shortcuts, they become more skilled at using programs and web tools, they become problem solvers and intuitive learners, and their confidence builds.
I know many teachers, who not only start integrating technology in the first week of a new school year, but they start within the first month or school, talking about the Technology Fair. They use the rubrics from the Tech Fair as the rubric for their class projects. They invite the Tech Coaches into their classrooms to work with them and their students early and often. They save projects all year long, and then as the Tech Fair season gets closer, they bring them out and have students take a look at them again…just tweaking them, and reviewing them enough to be sure they meet all of the criteria of a particular category for the big event.
For all of the reasons above, some teachers might be hard pressed to participate, or even find that they have to drop out of events. It is understandable with all that is going on at the end of any given school year. By the same token, the ones that start planning for their Tech Fair in August and September, that plan with and invite their Tech Coaches into the classrooms, and that use the Tech Fair rubrics in their classrooms all year long, will be the ones that are less stressed, and more excited when it comes time to submit projects for themselves or their students, and even enter multiple projects. Think about planning with your Tech Coach to integrate technology projects into your lesson plans early and often. Good luck to all you enter Technology Fairs across the country, and across the world.
We typically hold our Technology Fair at the end of the school year. Keep in mind that there are so many things going on at the end of the school year, and this issue in itself can cause one to be stressed about participating in the Tech Fair. There is State Standardized testing, MAP testing, End of Course testing, teacher evaluation final reviews, teacher–administrative conferences, awards programs, District Art Shows, Academic Programs, Junior Scholars, and concerts and athletic banquets…not to mention having to get grades in and notes to the permanent records.
With the newer approach to testing online, computers are imaged, updated and sequestered for much of the testing time, which can last from two to four weeks. When a school doesn’t have enough computers for all to test in a shorter time frame, or the infrastructure to handle the extreme band width, it is just going to take a longer time.
That being said, computers may be held in a secure place to insure they are in proper working order for the testing, and kept away from students for a time. If this time happens to coincide with the request for computers from teachers and student…it becomes stressful; especially if lessons, activities or technology projects are planned.
Well, take heart, there is good news. Being involved in this process for several years now, I began to tell teachers that their Tech Fair projects, and those of the students should be happening all year long. When you integrate technology in the classroom from the beginning of the school year, students benefit. They are more familiar with the keyboard and shortcuts, they become more skilled at using programs and web tools, they become problem solvers and intuitive learners, and their confidence builds.
I know many teachers, who not only start integrating technology in the first week of a new school year, but they start within the first month or school, talking about the Technology Fair. They use the rubrics from the Tech Fair as the rubric for their class projects. They invite the Tech Coaches into their classrooms to work with them and their students early and often. They save projects all year long, and then as the Tech Fair season gets closer, they bring them out and have students take a look at them again…just tweaking them, and reviewing them enough to be sure they meet all of the criteria of a particular category for the big event.
For all of the reasons above, some teachers might be hard pressed to participate, or even find that they have to drop out of events. It is understandable with all that is going on at the end of any given school year. By the same token, the ones that start planning for their Tech Fair in August and September, that plan with and invite their Tech Coaches into the classrooms, and that use the Tech Fair rubrics in their classrooms all year long, will be the ones that are less stressed, and more excited when it comes time to submit projects for themselves or their students, and even enter multiple projects. Think about planning with your Tech Coach to integrate technology projects into your lesson plans early and often. Good luck to all you enter Technology Fairs across the country, and across the world.
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Get Out of Their Way
It is critical that we build a foundation in all of our educational content areas. In Math, we teach whole numbers, fractions, and add, subtract, divide and of course the multiplication tables. In ELA, we teach our students sight words, compound words, sentence structure and on to basic writing. It’s the same with Social Studies and Science, Physical Education, Career Courses and Music. So why do we assume that students know all of the basics for using technology? Some might say that the students now are so much more familiar with technology and use it all the time. Partly true, but it doesn’t apply equally to all of our young people.
We should try to steer our efforts toward the technology basics, and there are some things we need to be sure to cover, especially Digital Citizenship. Too many of our students already have multiple Social Media accounts, and in reality, many are not ready to use them appropriately. Well, many adults don’t use them appropriately for that matter.
But as we guide our student population down the path toward computer basics and digital citizenship, let’s be careful to NOT overstep our bounds…and be too rigid in our assignments. Yes, direct students to be mindful of others’ feelings on social media. Yes, warn students of the dangers of putting too much personal information out there for those with mal intent might want to use. Yes, reinforce the no-bullying policy. Yes, remind students that they are creating a “digital footprint” as they travel the cyber world. Yes, reinforce using good grammar, correct spelling and punctuation. Yes, give students as much opportunity as possible to practice with laptops, so that they are familiar with the keys and the functions of the laptops. Teach them to write…teach them how to drag and drop files and folders…teach them how to input files…teach them how to save, transfer and share files. No, we don’t want to impede their creativity or innovation.
When I was young, my mom used to let me use the cookie cutter to stamp out cookies in the shapes of animals and stars, and people. The cookie cutter allowed me to make the cookie in a designated pattern, and pretty much they all looked alike. I liked the consistency. However, when it comes to students, I prefer to avoid the “cookie cutter” approach. All of the students don’t look like, don’t learn alike, and don’t produce academically like the next student. We talk a lot about the techniques with differentiated instruction, and I think we need to be reminded to remember the differences in our kid’s personalities and styles as well.
As professional educators, it is imperative that we lead by example. Try new tools, try new strategies that integrate technology, use the programs that are available by your district or company. When we are teaching and facilitating, it is super important that we lead, guide and assist students…BUT…as soon as they catch the vision for their projects…as soon as you see the spark in their eye, and realize that they understand their assignment…that we are smart enough to “get out of their way.” Give them some parameters, give them some structure, and give them a time frame…because that’s what they’ll see in the real world…but then, “get out of their way.” Let them create. Let them invent. Let them be innovative. Sometimes the more reluctant students, when given the opportunity to use computers, and be hands on…they will take on a new persona. Give it a try…”get out of their way” and watch them shine.
Follow the Georgetown County School District Tech Coaches on Twitter:
Keith @KTech8
Jenny @ItsThatJenny
Marc @FrechetTech
Doug @FreshD85
We should try to steer our efforts toward the technology basics, and there are some things we need to be sure to cover, especially Digital Citizenship. Too many of our students already have multiple Social Media accounts, and in reality, many are not ready to use them appropriately. Well, many adults don’t use them appropriately for that matter.
But as we guide our student population down the path toward computer basics and digital citizenship, let’s be careful to NOT overstep our bounds…and be too rigid in our assignments. Yes, direct students to be mindful of others’ feelings on social media. Yes, warn students of the dangers of putting too much personal information out there for those with mal intent might want to use. Yes, reinforce the no-bullying policy. Yes, remind students that they are creating a “digital footprint” as they travel the cyber world. Yes, reinforce using good grammar, correct spelling and punctuation. Yes, give students as much opportunity as possible to practice with laptops, so that they are familiar with the keys and the functions of the laptops. Teach them to write…teach them how to drag and drop files and folders…teach them how to input files…teach them how to save, transfer and share files. No, we don’t want to impede their creativity or innovation.
When I was young, my mom used to let me use the cookie cutter to stamp out cookies in the shapes of animals and stars, and people. The cookie cutter allowed me to make the cookie in a designated pattern, and pretty much they all looked alike. I liked the consistency. However, when it comes to students, I prefer to avoid the “cookie cutter” approach. All of the students don’t look like, don’t learn alike, and don’t produce academically like the next student. We talk a lot about the techniques with differentiated instruction, and I think we need to be reminded to remember the differences in our kid’s personalities and styles as well.
As professional educators, it is imperative that we lead by example. Try new tools, try new strategies that integrate technology, use the programs that are available by your district or company. When we are teaching and facilitating, it is super important that we lead, guide and assist students…BUT…as soon as they catch the vision for their projects…as soon as you see the spark in their eye, and realize that they understand their assignment…that we are smart enough to “get out of their way.” Give them some parameters, give them some structure, and give them a time frame…because that’s what they’ll see in the real world…but then, “get out of their way.” Let them create. Let them invent. Let them be innovative. Sometimes the more reluctant students, when given the opportunity to use computers, and be hands on…they will take on a new persona. Give it a try…”get out of their way” and watch them shine.
Follow the Georgetown County School District Tech Coaches on Twitter:
Keith @KTech8
Jenny @ItsThatJenny
Marc @FrechetTech
Doug @FreshD85
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