Week #6: Five Minute Film Festival

I recently watched Ramsey Musallam's video from the Five Minute Film Festival, and I love the three rules he used to "spark" learning. It made me think of a question my student teacher asked me recently..."How do you go about designing a lesson?" It was a great question and made me think about my own practices. The three rules that Musallam mentions are great starters for developing a lesson that requires students to be active participants in their own relative, engaging, and long-lasting learning.

Musallam's Three Rules:
1. Curiosity comes first- I taught 5th grade before becoming a math/tech coach, and one thing I always wondered was why students didn't have the same curiosity they once had in kindergarten. After teaching and observing over the past several years, I've realized that we as teachers talk too much. We don't let our students question concepts to develop a relationship with the content that creates meaning and relevance in their lives. As a result, students sit quietly and wait for information to be given to them.
2. Embrace the mess- Teaching is messy. Literally and figuratively. There is no one size fits all instructional method, nor is there time for teaching to become complacent in their teaching abilities. We must embrace trying new methods and use our mistakes as an avenue to clarify and refine our practice.
3. Practice reflection- Effective instruction requires revision to our teaching process and our view of education. We need to teach with the mindset that what we do might "save lives".

Week #6:  Connect to a Power Source




A simple, but powerful powerful command to educators today. I do connect...every day..but am I connecting my device to receive power to it or connecting to others with my device to empower myself and other teachers? We connect devices all day, but do we truly connect ourselves into conversations and professional relationships with others in an effort to flatten the brick and mortar confines of our schools and digitally enter into schools around the world that have accepted a new "normal" for instruction and professional development. I don't. Not enough anyway. For example, I have  Twitter account, but I don't use it to grow my PLN. Will I now that I've read more about it? Yes. I think the glass ceiling that I've hit with my professional growth is fear. Fear that I might make a mistake. Fear that my school might not accept my vision. Fear that I might not have what it takes to lead my school into a connected and more digitally proficient environment for our students. The more I read, however, some of the most connected educators had the same fears, but they started small and  continued to step forward toward change. However small the steps were, they were still focused on moving forward and not backward. Eventually, those steps became larger and more steady as they developed their own "voice" and received affirmation that their ideas were legitimate and were valid with education today. So, what do I take away from all my readings about being connected? I have to do it. I've been charged to lead my school in the a more connected direction for the sake of our students, and I can't continue to let my own selfish fears keep me from charging ahead and forming a more robust PLN that catapults my learning and school into change. Real change.

PLU 168: Week 4: Digital Reputation and Tech-Leading

      There you are...Scrolling through your twitter, facebook, or instagram feed. As you scroll, you categorize the people you follow into different categories: the encouragers, the depressers, the braggers, the inspirers, the travelers, etc. So, what kind of online behaviors do you exhibit? What content do you post about?
      This article prompted me to really think about my own digital reputation, and how I encourage a positive digital relationship with my 3-5 students.  The article gives great tips, especially for secondary education, on how to change students' mindsets about what they post to create purposeful, positive posts, pictures, tweets, or videos. The same ideas can be tweaked for elementary students and still accomplish the same mindset shift toward posting content that is purposeful and powerful.
     It's easy to look at these ideas and plan to implement them (if you're a teacher) or encourage teachers to implement them (if you're an administrator or coach), but what else needs to accompany the ideas to make sure they are successful?

• Teacher Knowledge- Teachers must be savvy enough with social media/digital tools in order to present, model, or facilitate lessons that utilize them.
• Rubric- used to assess the digital project and communicate your project expectations to the students. 
• Rubric resources: 
• Rubistar- create customized and free rubrics
• Teach-nology- library of pre-formatted rubrics for content areas
• Roobrix- great tool for scoring rubrics accurately

Access to Technology- student devices (Bring Your Own Device) or school provided devices

Collaboration- Administrators must encourage classroom climates that embrace and encourage collaboration and rich discussion. It would also help if the school had already branded itself using social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, etc. 

 

What stands out about tech-leading educators, building administrators, or superintendents? An iPad air, eye-catching iPad cover and coordinating stylus, and an iPhone 6+? Actually, what truly separates tech-leaders from the rest of the pack is not what they possess, but how to propel themselves and followers toward innovating thinking, digital perseverance, and meaningful learning for students.  Karen Cator describes key attributes of successful tech-leading superintendents in this article from The Journal. 

•  Life-long learning- BE CURIOUS and share your curiosity with other superintendents, employees, and school board members. Stay connected through social media to broaden your thinking of what IS possible and keep your ideas from becoming dated. 
• Visionary-Think about what is possible and share it clearly so everyone knows what the target is. 
• Goal-Oriented- An overall vision is needed to create a target. How the target will be reached comes from setting short and long-term goals for an organization. Know where your schools/district currently is so you can determine how to reach your target.
• Collaborative- Don't sit on an island and wait for ideas to float ashore. Problem solve, build a raft, and set out to find solutions! Make intentional contact with people or businesses that can support the schools'/district's efforts. Model this collaboration to other stakeholders to create an environment where walls or traditional hierarchy systems don't prohibit solutions to be found.
• Innovative- Try new things, and don't stop when it does or doesn't work! Highlight teachers that are implementing new, creative ideas in their rooms, and support them! Function under the understanding that not every idea will work, but taking risks and learning from them creates a community where success isn't measured by the individual trials, but the overall advancement of the district. 

Final thought...Using the information above, how leading questions would a tech-leading superintendent have if given the scenario below?

PLU 168 Week 2: edWeb Webinars

Digital Leadership: Eric Sheninger

My Thoughts/Reactions
Educational shifts cause changes in our educational lingo. Two trending buzz words are digital citizenship for our students and digital leadership for school administrators. Both have multifaceted definitions, but both are required to propel schools into a true digital learning environment for students. Sheninger presented several pieces of information that I wanted to share with my school administration and with teachers that I provide PD for.

1. Infographic with paint-  Instruction in the 21st Century doesn't fit into nice, segmented subjects anymore. Instead, it required integration of many different skills, concepts, or subjects to create a more "colorful" or real-world approach to learning. Jobs are not segmented, and employees are expected to function every day thinking flexibly. Learning in the 21st century classroom also requires flexible thinking to create learning products that integrate multiple subject areas. Our brain is a complex web/network of thoughts and ideas...not a filing cabinet with neat organized folders.

2. As we integrate more technology, it's important to remember that the technology isn't solely responsible for changing instruction and learning, but rather the teachers and school leaders that devote countless hours to plan, take risks, and provide a clear focus for what learning is going to look like at their school are the driving force behind enhancing instruction and achievement. For example, providing access to a worksheet through Edmodo is still requiring a student to complete a worksheet. Completing the sheet online doesn't necessarily increase student achievement. As teachers and leaders start to focus on student work products and how it shows authentic learning, a mutualistic relationship between technology integration and teacher-based instruction begins.

3. Using rubrics- What a great way to assess learning! Yes, they require some work on the front end, but what I love about them is by creating them, the teacher has to think about the product he/she wants from the students, and the students are clearly informed about what is expected of them. I've created several rubrics for technology projects this year, and one thing I always include is a category on digital citizenship. It's important to reiterate to students its importance with every technology centered project and in every day use of technology/software in the classroom or in their personal life.

4. Digital Resilience- "the refusal to quit when confronted by blocked websites, antiquated tools,  and technology decisions that aren't aligned with  a new vision for teaching and learning." What I liked about this definition is it's relevance to every day teaching. Regularly integrating technology into classrooms presents challenges every day, especially when you've stayed up late making sure everything was organized only for the wi-fi to be down the next day. :) In my opinion, if we ask students to be persistent with their learning, we in return need to show this same resilience and persistence when faced with technological challenges or decision-making.

Branding Your School: Tony Sininas and Joe Sanfelippo

My Thoughts/Reactions
1. Communication Shift- Schools can't wait for good news to travel among parents or the community. Instead, we have to use the resources available to us to show what learning is taking place every day. I liked the example the presenters gave about what a student says he/she did at school: "nothing". If teachers or schools upload different learning experiences or announcements to twitter or facebook, the entire school community is quickly informed for free! No more paper newsletters to get lost in backpacks or decorate classroom floors!

2. Elevator story- I liked the analogy of how much time you have in an elevator and using that time to inform someone of your school. It made me think about what I would say if I was given 15 seconds. (Madison Cross Roads Elementary is a school that believes in developing the whole child to be a lifelong learner. We prepare our kids by infusing technology into every day classroom routines and develop higher level thinking skills through authentic learning experiences and rich classroom discussions.) It prompted me to think whether every teacher at MXR would have the same elevator story about us, and if not, how can we make sure that we all have the same focus/vision?

3. "Flatten the Walls"- Schools today cannot be closed units shut off from the outside community. In fact, our school serves like community center by hosting youth basketball/football leagues, girl/boy scouts, and collaborating with a HEALS clinic next door. Parents are already in our building, but we need to do a better job of making sure the whole community knows about what we're doing. Parents are important stakeholders, but so are local businesses and potential new students. I liked this vision of flattening our walls so learning can be more visible.

Welcome Back

PLU 168: Week 1-   1, 2, 3.....Look, it's me!

It's that time again.......time to blog about what I'm learning in my newest technology class. Stay tuned!