'Tis the season to give thanks....

'Tis the season to be thinking of what we are thankful for. The things that make our life and our work better. These three tools make my WORK easier and better and I am thankful for them:

iPad / Apple TV -

These tools together allow for so much exploration and exposure for students. With a few clicks I can take my students ANYWHERE and they can share with the whole class what they find interesting or have worked on. This combined tool is powerful in sharing and creating knowledge with and for students!

Google Apps for Education -

This remarkable set of apps allows for creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking. We can share our knowledge with each other and the world when we use the versatile tools that Google Apps offers. Students can create presentations, share their thinking through drawing and writing, and collaborate in numerous platforms. As a teacher these tools make lesson planning and delivery, grading, and communication so easy.

Markers, Colored Pencils, and Crayons -

While tech in education is important in this day and age, some good old fashioned tools also have a treasured place in classrooms, especially mine! I love color and I love students to express themselves and be creative with color. With a well stocked supply of colored pencils, crayons, and markers our normal work can go from drab to fab. Students can use color to highlight, underline, circle, create, edit, and stylize their work. Colored implements play an important role in the work I do and the work I ask my students to do.

When I think of teaching and the learners in my classrooms, I am thankful that I have these three things to support our work and allow us to be collaborating and creating everyday!

When I think about my life, I am thankful for my family and my community of colleagues that make life AND work fun!

Happy Thanksgiving!

C

Technology Integration and Instructional Coaching

In most areas of the Technology Integration Matrix, I fall within the adaptation level. However, in the authentic area, I am sadly still in the adoption category. 
I really view this matrix as a challenge, looking at each "teaching" opportunity and trying to move the experience over on the matrix. 

Goal One: 

Working with the new instructional coaches to integrate technology into their coaching. I want teachers and coaches to use technology throughout the process or cycle. Whether it is for communication or creation, I want everyone to feel comfortable with technology. I will need to explore ways to manage their data and contacts and for keeping track of next steps. I can help myself reach this goal by looking at blogs written by experienced coaches, follow Twitter chats for ideas, and engage in professional relationships with coaches who have been successful at this.  In the constructive area of the matrix, I rated myself as in the adaptation stage. I look for stuff and then tell them how to use it. I want to provide tools and choice to teachers and coaches about managing their interactions. This will help me move along the matrix to the infusion stage. 

Goal Two: 

Part of my new position is to provide training for teachers on anything and everything. I want my trainings to be powerful for teachers and give them multiple choices for implementation and advancement of knowledge. I would like to make sure that there is a technology component to every training, something that teachers can take back to their students/classrooms. To complete this goal I can use resources in our district. I can plan/brainstorm with Rae and my fellow coaches, I can poll teachers on their needs, and I can look for my own professional learning opportunities with others that are experienced in this arena. I feel that this falls within the authentic area, my weakest area. I am just at the adoption stage here. I want to find ideas and expand my tool kit to move me over on the matrix.

Goal Three:

Digital Citizenship is such an important part of our work as digital educators. My goal is to become proficient with the new content and assessment components on the Digital Citizenship website that we use (Common Sense Media - Scope and Sequence). I want to be a resource for teachers and coaches. I can work towards my goal by exploring the site, work towards certification, and volunteer to teach lessons in classrooms. I think that this falls into the active area of the matrix, where I was at the adaptation stage.  


I always set goals, and most of the time my completion rate stinks. I am hopeful that my classmates in Cohort 2 will help to hold me accountable. 

Yay! A new group of educators to bond with and learn from. Welcome Cohort 2.

Since I am having a redo, I will sometimes try an alternate form of the same assignment. Last time I created a Voki

See her here

So this time I tried a Tellagami

See her here

I liked them both. How powerful it would be to have students do this!  Also, leaving a message for students and parents in classroom. FUN!!

I accepted this challenge from +Rae Fearing as part of the #MakeSchoolDifferent Challenge

To improve educational experiences for students we need to stop pretending that:

1. Our students can't do that.
    How many times have I heard this? TOO MANY. Our students are amazing, they can do so much more than we give them credit for. Give them a chance, get out of their way, and watch them learn.

2. Teachers will use technology to teach if you put it in their room.
     Teachers will always say yes when you ask them if they want stuff. It is in our nature. But just putting technology in a room will not guarantee that it will be used. Teachers need training, they need peers to collaborate with, they need to see great teaching using technology, they need to have a mentor, they need to be told they can do it, they need to be comfortable failing a time or two.

3. One professional learning experience on ANY topic is enough.
    So often in education we keep throwing new ideas and initiatives at our teachers and at our students. We need to choose a few that we are passionate about and STICK WITH THEM. Give teachers time to work out the bugs. Provide layered training. We do that with students right? An introduction, a check in and reteaching for students that need a little extra help or support, an enrichment for those that are getting it. If we want teachers to embrace a new movement or a new program, we need to provide some time and support.

4. There is only one way to show learning.
   Really? If there are seven styles of learning...how come we ask our students to show us what they know with a ONE size fits all project/paper/test? We, as educators, need to believe in our abilities to assess student learning in many ways. We need to give our students freedom to demonstrate their knowledge in a way that works for them.

5. That we need an "assessment" for every standard.
    So often I hear teachers say that they don't have a piece of paper that shows a student's competency on a PARTICULAR standard. Don't you just "know" sometimes? Teachers are professionals and we are smart! We understand that Susie doesn't get fractions and Bob struggles with decoding. Go with your gut. Make the call, give the grade, and back it up with your knowledge of the standards....not a score on a piece of paper from one day in your classroom.

This is it?!?!?!

Our class has come to an end...but the learning has not. I have learned so much from my colleagues and from the Teaching in the Digital Age coursework and instructor. My first exposure to the ISTE Standards for Teachers was overwhelming and scary. But as I moved through the readings, participated in discussions with others, and completed assignments, I became much more comfortable and confident. Each module in the class is designed to make you competent in one area of the standards. 

See my prezi here.....

Charlene

I have grown so much in my use of a variety of tools and my understanding of just how important it is to give our students 21st Century skills. I am looking forward to continuing my growth and looking for opportunities to put this new knowledge into practice in classrooms. I know that I will continue to learn from and collaborate with the others who have participated in this class. I am confident that I will be invited to build learning experiences for students using all that we have learned together. 
As I start a new adventure in my career, I feel confident that what I learned in this course will be passed onto coaches and teachers. 

Some cool digs...

Just as students need a learning environment that is flexible, efficient, comfortable, and learner based, so do teachers!  Whenever I have been doing an assignment for this class I have been trying to gauge it to my adult learners, the teachers that I grow and work with. So today, I am designing the perfect office/professional development space for myself, my fellow coaches, and our colleagues. 
I really envision a cafe feel....does that make sense? Some low tables and some high tables and some stand and work tables - all of which are easily moveable.  A combination of stools and chairs. A whole wall of white board for brainstorming. A bank of cubbies/cupboards for storing (let's face it....teachers have STUFF). A small kitchenette (coffee maker, microwave, refrigerator). A comfortable corner for collaborative meetings. A "Charging Station" for teachers who come to meetings with us. Because there will be five of us sharing the space, we will each need a work station, a spot to call our own. I think these could be teacher preference....some people like a table, some like a traditional "teacher" desk....flexibility and comfort are the keys here. In a perfect world I would have some funding for this, but this is an economically challenging time and I would rather spend our money on things that will benefit students in the classroom. I know that there are "leftovers" all over this district that my team could use and make their own. The main focus in my design will be the collaborative work space and the design is similar, but not identical, to my current room. I will have to rearrange some areas because there will be more of us, but I feel that with input from my new partners and creativity we can make it happen!


Orion



UNC - Charlotte


Continuing Education Center


Can you see it?  I am getting excited. It won't be this colorful or flashy, but it will be GREAT!!!!

Sketchnote.....

I was a sketchnoter....before it was cool!  I found out many years ago that kids could do a better job and get more learning from Science and History videos and math lessons if they used what Ms. K. called "picture notes".....how awesome is that! I am hesitant to take this kind of notes for myself because I get caught up in the "I can't draws"....but I do garner more knowledge and recall when I allow myself to sketchnote.

Modern Learning Environments - Sketch with Paper Fiftythree