edtech VISION

I attended an informal professional development session shared by one of our teachers at school yesterday on differentiated instruction.  The session was informative and thought provoking.  We all need to be reminded of ways we can best support the learning of our students.

Recap of my biggest take-aways:

• Fair isn’t always equal – meaning you don’t need to have a cookie cutter approach to grading and evaluation of your students.
• Differentiated instruction supports flexibility in the way you teach, the way your students demonstrate their understanding and the way your assess their understanding.
• Create a student-centered classroom – get away from lecture-test-hope for the best
• This type of instruction increases student engagement and learning
• Can be difficult to implement – takes time to plan out activities to meet objectives & classroom management can be an issue too.
• Teachers expressed a desire to gather together in small groups to share ideas of how to best meet the learning challenges of certain students (ie, after a round table meeting).

The teacher gave us a handout of a list of instructional strategies and methods.  This was very helpful for me to review and see how I can improve my teaching.  

A Listing of Instructional Strategies and Methods http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/de/pd/instr/categ.html

Direct Instruction

• Possibilities include
  • Structured Overview
  • Lecture
  • Explicit Teaching
  • Drill & Practice
  • Compare & Contrast
  • Didactic Questions
  • Demonstrations
  • Guided & Shared – reading, listening, viewing, thinking

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Interactive Instruction

• Possibilities include
  • Debates
  • Role Playing
  • Panels
  • Brainstorming
  • Peer Partner Learning
  • Discussion
  • Laboratory Groups
  • Think, Pair, Share
  • Cooperative Learning Groups
  • Jigsaw
  • Problem Solving
  • Structured Controversy
  • Tutorial Groups
  • Interviewing
  • Conferencing

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Indirect Instruction

• Possibilities include
  • Problem Solving
  • Case Studies
  • Reading for Meaning
  • Inquiry
  • Reflective Discussion
  • Writing to Inform
  • Concept Formation
  • Concept Mapping
  • Concept Attainment
  • Cloze Procedure

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Independent Study

• Possibilities include
  • Essays
  • Computer Assisted Instruction
  • Journals
  • Learning Logs
  • Reports
  • Learning Activity Packages
  • Correspondence Lessons
  • Learning Contracts
  • Homework
  • Research Projects
  • Assigned Questions
  • Learning Centers

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Experiential Learning

• Possibilities include
  • Field Trips
  • Narratives
  • Conducting Experiments
  • Simulations
  • Games
  • Storytelling
  • Focused Imaging
  • Field Observations
  • Role-playing
  • Synectics
  • Model Building
  • Surveys

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Instructional Skills

• Possibilities include
  • Explaining
  • Demonstrating
  • Questioning
  • Questioning Technique
  • Wait Time
  • Levels of Questions

My 8th grade students are participating in a 40-day blog challenge.  Each day two different students post an idea on our Tread Lightly blog of how to be a good steward of the environment by recycling,  reducing emissions, using less packaging, planting trees, etc.  Our blog project was inspired by “Tread Lightly” a 40-day challenge sponsored by Taking It Global.  Go to:  http://treadlightly.me/challenge.html and read about their challenge.

From October 24 to December 2, we will join others around the world in blogging about our commitments and encouraging others to do the same on our class blog located at:  http://ccassinelli.edublogs.org

Since I only see the 8th graders twice a week I needed them to work on this project outside of class.  I divided the students into teams of four.  Each member has a specific job to assist their teammates with their blog posts.  Here are the roles:

• Production editor – Your job will be to make sure your teammates post their entries on the correct date.  You will also be in charge of moderating any blog comments on your posts and assign someone to respond to the comment.
• Technical editor – Your job is to help your teammates with how to post their blog entry.  You should be pretty good with computers and willing to spend some time learning about Edublogs.
• Creative editor – Your job will be to assist your teammates in selecting images, media or creative entries to go along with their blog post.
• Communications editor – Your job will be to check the spelling and grammar of your teammates blog posts and maintain communication between group members.

Each teammate drafts their blog post in a shared Google Document and we maintain the 40 day schedule on a shared spreadsheet.  Writing on a shared document allowed the students to write and edit their post and see what their teammates were planning.  I wasn’t too concerned about duplicate ideas – I just encouraged the students to put their spin on their idea or support it with different facts.

Students are required to support their writing with facts and citations and give credit for images used.  Some students are planning on making motivational posts using Big Huge Labs and comics with ToonDoo to post along their writing. Towards the end of the 40 days each team will add an embedded Google Form to survey their readers or check their knowledge.

One of the ways to be successful whenever you start a blogging project is to make sure someone is reading the blog and students are receiving comments.  I signed up our class with Comments4Kids http://comments4kids.wikispaces.com/.  Teachers list their class blogs on this wiki and I direct my student to visit those student blogs and leave comments and have them invite those students to follow our 40day challenge.

We’ve received comments from a variety of classes – like students from Gary Bertoia’s 9th grade class at Saigon South International School in Vietnam and Russ Goerend’s 6th Grade Language Arts and Social Studies classes.  Having other students read and comment on their blog post have motivated our class and raised the quality of writing.  Students are teaching each other and moving forward with this project with little teacher intervention though I do moderate all incoming comments.

Please consider joining our 40-day challenge and tell us your idea for reducing your carbon footprint on the environment at http://ccassinelli.edublogs.org

Blogging can be used in any number of ways. It can be used to form a reading discussion forum or posting short current events articles and invite students’ thoughts. You can use it to foster communication among multiple classes or serve as a student progress log on a lab or research assignment.  Some teachers use it to post photos and homework assignments online.  No matter how you decide to use your class blog, make sure you encourage the conversation but at the same time moderate the comments.

Activities to do with your class blog with your students or school community:

1. Post a homework question and each student writes a one-paragraph response.
2. Start a discussion by posing a question and require that students post several times over the course of a week or curriculum unit.  Invite parents, other grades or schools to comment on student work
3. Illustrate ideas and connections through written and visual explanations.
4. Have students post discussion questions for the next day’s class.  This works great if you know students are having a hard time understanding a concept and they post questions they want you to review.
5. Have students write their notes for the day.  Assign one student per day to be the scribe for the class. This is great for discussion-based classes where you want students to focus on the discussion and not have to worry about taking notes.
6. Post progress reports on team projects.  Students can post their work to the blog so that others can see what they are doing and comment on each other’s work.
7. Have students create their own blogs for any independent study
8. Conversations around books:  If you know the author of a book you are reading, have students write feedback and have the author respond, if possible.
9. Participate in a student blogging/comment challenge.  For a set period of time, challenge your students to post or comment on another student’s blog. Sample at:  http://wyatt67.edublogs.org/student-blogging-challenge/

Blogs are great if you are looking for an organized, formal connection with other global classrooms. Cross-country projects can open a wider world for your students while meeting lessons objectives and standards. Students can discuss global issues and compare how each country is working towards solving the problem. Students can share informational links on how they are making a difference or simply just learn more global issues

Organized programs:

• Taking IT Global Online community of youth interested in global issues and creating positive change. http://www.tigweb.org/
• iEarn International Education and Resource Network:  A non-profit global network that enables teachers and students to collaborate on projects that enhance learning and make a difference in the world.  http://iearn.org/
• ePals K-12 online community that safely connect, collaborate and build community across 200 countries and territories. http://www.epals.com/
• Youthink! gears international development issues to a youth audience and encourages young people to get involved in solutions to global problems, such as HIV/AIDS, malnutrition, and gender inequality. http://www.youthink.worldbank.org/
• Global SchoolNet: Focus is to develop literacy and communication skills, foster teamwork and collaboration, encourage workforce preparedness and create multi-cultural understanding. http://www.globalschoolnet.org/

These social networks are great places to start looking for teachers who have planned a project and need collaborators, or just a place to see other projects and how they work.

• Flat Classrooms Ning Participants in the Flat Classroom Project communicate, share and interact via this educational network
• The Global Education Collaborative Ning A community for teachers and students interested in global education. Contribute by adding media, conversation, and collaborative project ideas.
• Online Projects For Teachers Ning A social network to link teachers together.
• Teachers Connecting A place for K-12 teachers to find other teachers
  for cross-classroom collaboration.
• Classroom 2.0 Ning A social network for those interested in Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies in education
• Global Education Collaborative Projects Database A form to fill out to list your projects if you are looking to collaborate with schools around the world.

What is a blog?

A blog is a type of website maintained by an individual or a class with written entries or embedded items such as graphics or videos. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order.

Blogging can be used for reading and writing, conversations around topics, communicating with a larger audience or sharing examples from learning portfolios. It can be an effective venue for networked learning. Reading and commenting to one another creates a dialogue that requires persuasive writing and critical thinking.

Blogging Websites

There are many different platforms you can use to set your classroom blog. The most popular options for FREE classroom blogs are:

• Edublogs – http://edublogs.org/
• Blogger - http://www.blogger.com/
• WordPress - http://wordpress.com/
• Classblogmeister – http://classblogmeister.com/

All of the sites have step-by-step instructions for signing up for a blog.  You will need to register with an email address and password and choose a name for your blog.  There will be a choice of themes and page layouts but these can be changed anytime.  Be mindful of your school’s policy about posting student work/images online or blogs that contain advertisements.  Consider having your students sign a “Blogging Agreement” and receive administrator/parent approval first.

Educational Objective

The first step is to decide the purpose of the student blog.  How will writing, sharing and posting comments to classmates meet the standards or educational objectives of the lesson? Some other questions to answer are:

• What would you like students to understand?
• What kind of authentic task can you design for your students to demonstrate their understanding?
• What supporting activities or tasks need to be completed to help your students construct their understanding?

Once the objective is determined, the next step is to decide whether each student is going to have their own individual blog or are they going to share one class blog with each student as a contributor (recommended for new bloggers).

User Accounts

Once the blog account is set up, you will need to create additional users for each one of your students. Enter a username for each new user. Remember that the username is visible on the blog when posting or commenting.  Consider only using first names to protect your student’s privacy.  Understand that many of the blog websites require an email address* and password.

(*Hint:  Create a teacher email account using Gmail. If the teacher account is teacher@gmail.com, all you have to do is add a “+studentname” before the @ symbol to make a linked account. Therefore mail sent to teacher+studentname@gmail.com will go straight to teacher@gmail.com and students will not need their own email accounts).

With Edublogs and Wordpress you can have different roles assigned to individual users.

• Administrator – has access to all the administration features – usually the teacher.
• Editor – can publish posts, as well as manage other people’s posts.
• Author – can publish and manage their own posts.
• Contributor – can write and manage their posts but not publish posts.
• Subscriber – can read comments and receive newsletters.

Consider assigning younger students as Contributors so Editors or Administrators can preview and approve the posts before publishing to the general public.

With all of these blogging platforms you can restrict your blog to only readers you choose if you need additional privacy. However, these readers will need to log in before reading the blog, adding an extra step.

Posting and Commenting

The basic logistics of formatting a blog post are similar among the various blogging platforms.  Below is a sample of a typical post.

1.  Choose a descriptive blog post title – keep it short.

2.  Write your post in the body area.  Consider writing your post offline first so you have time to edit, revise and check spelling.  Use the “Paste from Word” icon to remove any type of previous formatting. Sometimes Microsoft Word adds extra code that will be hard to edit in your post.

3.  You can format your blog with color, bold, italic, numbering, bullets and alignment.  Consider using headings and keep your paragraphs short.  Insert hyperlinks to connect to other websites and resources.

4.  Most blogging platforms will allow you to embed a variety of media:  images, audio, video, polls, etc.  You can always edit the HTML code directly to embed other media formats.

5.  You can “tag” each blog post with a several words to indicate the topic.  Separate tags with commas.

6.  For a shared class blog, consider creating a category name for each student so you can sort the blogs posts by student name.

7.  Publish the blog entry or send it for review.

Encourage your students to maintain high standards of writing since blogs usually have a public audience.  Student writing should be organized and written with a strong voice.  The work should be edited for spelling, capitalization, punctuation and grammar.  Cite any sources used.

Media projects like PowerPoint assignments might need to be uploaded to a file sharing site like www.slideshare.com and then embedded into the blog for viewing.

Commenting

The type of commenting you want to encourage with a academic or educational blog should be related to the content of the blog post.  Blogging is a conversation.  Comments in a blog should encourage further discussion and be connected to the author’s point of view.  Comments can have a variety of ideas: sharing additional links or resources, making a connection with a new idea, sharing a new perspective or even challenging or debating a topic.
Encourage students to avoid dead-end comments or write something just for the sake of commenting with replies like “good job” or “I like your post”.  Teach your students comment starters like:

• This reminds me of ..
• I noticed that you said …
• I would like to know more about …
• I’m not sure that …

Consider gouping your students into “learning circles”.  The 4-5 members of the group read and comment on each other’s blogs before the rest of the class. This ensures everyone receives comments – not just some students.

Moderate and approve all comments before allowing them to be published.  This prevents inappropriate comments being posted on the blog – especially from spammers.  Remember: comments make by classmates are public to everyone.  They should be written with proper spelling and grammar too.

Online Safety

Blogging is great opportunity to teach about digital citizenship.  Teach students to only first names and refrain from identifying their school or location.  Have students use avatars or use creative filters with Photoshop for personal images to protect identities.  Encourage students to be kind when commenting and to take blog writing seriously.  Remember to write for your intended audience especially if the blog is set to public.

Blogging Resources

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson. Published by Corwin Press, 2008.  ISBN-13:  978-1412959728

Classroom Blogging by David Warlick.  Published by Lulu.com, 2005.  ISBN-13: 978-1411629035

SupportBlogging! Website to support and promote an understanding of the benefits of educational blogging.  http://www.supportblogging.com/

Students:

• write

• revise

• visualize
  

• create

• locate

• take risks

• communicate in new ways

• collaborate

• extend

• learn new technology skills

• become more visually literate

• manage and prioritize

• use real world tools

… and produce meaningful, personal products of value!

From David Jake  Jake Online Wiki about Digital Storytelling
Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/judybaxter/4462965/

Thanks to Angela Maiers and Dr. Scott McLeod for sharing this video made by Steven Hopper at Iowa State University

To Meet the Demands of a New Age from Steven H on Vimeo.

I am participating in a Microgrant program sponsored by Dell and an online community, called WeAreTeachers. The 10 recipients of this grant receive $200 to promote “digital learning” in their classroom, as well as a flip video camera.  Recipients are selected through an online voting process. SO — If you have a moment, I’d really appreciate your going online and voting for my project. It would really mean a lot to me to have your vote and support! Just go to http://www.weareteachers.com/web/weareteachers/dlvote and follow the directions there.

Thanks,
Colette Cassinelli

Project Title
Voices of the Past

Description
Middle school students at my school visit residents of a nursing home on our school campus. Students are paired up with a resident and spend time visiting, playing games, taking photos, completing activities and conducting interviews during their weekly visits. The students create a unique friendship with the residents. A culminating social event at the end of the year involves students creating special memory book of each resident and family members are invited to attend a special reception.

How will I use the money:
The money from this grant will be to purchase Flip cameras so the students can record the discussions between the students and the residents. Students will then use the recordings when they prepare their memory books or for use in digital storytelling or videos. The students can include a DVD of the clips with each memory books for the resident’s family.

Who will benefit:
Of course, the flip cameras will benefit the students in our school. Not having to worry about keeping track of notes during the interviews will free up students to focus on the interview and the resident. This project will also benefit the residents of the nursing home and their families. A DVD of their family member talking about their life and memories will be priceless.

Where:
Beaverton, Oregon

How will you use the FlipCam to document your idea?
September 2009

When will my project take place:
The FlipCam will be the focal point of the interview project and they will be used by the students to record the resident interviews. I would also like to interview the students about their experience of visiting an older person and what the project has meant to them. Giving the students a chance to reflect on the stories they heard and the lessons they learned are extremely valuable.

Why I want to do this:
Giving students the opportunity to discover the stories of real people who have led long and interesting lives is so valuable. It teachers them about friendship, respect, listening, curiosity and appreciation. Creating a video for another person about their life is a precious gift. The learning involved in choosing what to include in the interview, which segments to show, how to piece it together to tell a story is a wonderful learning opportunity. It’s real, authentic and meaningful.

Throughout the EduBloggersphere Scott McLeod has encouraged bloggers to write about leadership for Leadership Day 09. How do we help those in leadership positions understand …

• what it means to prepare students for the 21st century;
• how to recognize, evaluate, and facilitate effective technology usage by students and teachers;
• what appropriate technology support structures (budget, staffing, infrastructure) look like or how to implement them;
• how to utilize modern technologies to facilitate communication with internal and external stakeholders;
• the ways in which learning technologies can improve student learning outcomes;
• how to utilize technology systems to make their organizations more efficient and effective

Teaching in a small Catholic high school where the leadership team consists of a few members with no larger school district or bureaucratic system has its advantages and disadvantages.  As a classroom teacher I am allowed a lot of freedom and ownership of my classroom.  We are considered “professionals” who are hired in our expertise area.  I can constantly reevaluate my instructional practices to focus on student learning and creating an environment that is conducive to collaboration and sharing.  It’s easier to make changes in my own domain, but harder throughout the school or Archdiocese.

The disadvantage of this system is that teachers can become very isolated and focused on their own subject area.  Socially, the teachers get along but there are various degrees of support or encouragement between departments and with other schools.

The one area of leadership that I would love to focus on is a shared vision for supporting student learning.  I believe that this type of shared vision is essential for moving forward as a school.  Are we engaging our students to be critical and passionate thinkers?  Do our students have a love of learning and sharing?  How are we assessing our students in authentic and relevant ways?  While individually I am sure many of our teachers are addressing these questions – what are we doing as a school to encourage and create a shared vision among our whole staff and how are they being implemented?  And another question I have for myself if “What is my role as a “traditional” technology instructor to infuse technology into every subject area and support learning?”

I find it very challenging to lead from the middle of the pack.  On one hand I want to model effective teaching practices using technology but without shared planning time or regular Professional Development – opportunities for sharing just don’t exist.  Many students learn valuable technology skills in my classes and then have a hard time using those skills in other subject areas.  Due to recent cutbacks, positions have eliminated from our school and funds for outside PD have been scaled back.

So, I guess this post really is what I hope to achieve as a “leader” in my school – especially in regards to technology and supporting student learning:

1. I am thrilled to work with the middle school teachers this coming school year to systematically plan and infuse technology into the curriculum and give suggestions how it can support what the students are already studying.  My dream would that this would be a model of how my “Computer Applications” course will be moved into the regular curriculum.
2. With the help of a newly formed PD team, plan and conduct (optional) professional development workshops throughout the school year for our faculty – ones that focus not only on technology, but also on assessment, questioning strategies, Project Based Learning, etc..
3. Share how being involved in my own PLN has shaped and challenged my own views of student learning and has encouraged me to grow as a teacher.
4. Continue to attend the monthly Archdiocese Technology Teachers meetings and encourage this group to develop workshops that serve the entire Archdiocese.

As I am writing these, I am stuck how ambitious my plans are but I hope to create some sort of synergy and excitement around what we are trying to accomplish.  One of my biggest take aways from NECC09 was the importance of community when conducting Professional Development.  Our small school community has that advantaged – we already do have a sense of community – now to just to move our vision forward so we are all working towards the same goals.

Read more about Leadership Day 09

Some other gems from NECC this year:

• Getting a chance to hear Angela Maiers discuss Literacy at NECC Unplugged and discussing it with her afterwards.  Angela is passionate about literacy.  Literacy is more than learning how to “read”  it encompasses all aspects of making meaning.  She suggests that we should teach literacy as a LEARNING SKILL.  She breaks down 21^st Century literacy proficiency into 4 areas whether you are a young learner reading a book, a HS students  doing research, or reading a Twitter page.  You learn to read and you read to learn.  The 4 Resource Model included:  Code Breakers, Text User, Meaning Maker and Text Critic.  You use all four methods when making meaning  whether the information is printed or digital.  When you understand that the skills, strategy and thinking of reading is the same skill set no matter what you are learning – it transcends all mediums.  I love her analogy of driving a car.  We don’t break down the skills of driving into mini lessons (this is how you turn the steering wheel) – it takes practices to be thinking of where you are going, what’s going on – how you are going to steer the car, etc.. Why then do we continue to break down reading into small parts instead of dealing with all aspects as one???  Anyway, I love taking with someone who loves what they do and any school is lucky to have Angela working with them
• Listening to Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Will Richardson at a session called Here Comes Learning! and them talking about the great work they are doing with their cohorts at Powerful Learning Practice.  I would love to be involved in a future cohort!
• Having a personal lesson about Wikispaces from founder Adam Frey during NECC Unplugged.
• The Blogger’s Cafe – what a fabulous idea.  I loved having a central place to return to after session and review what I just learned with the folks around me.  I think I must have met 50 people f3f who I follow on twitter.
• Learning more about the National Girl’s Collaborative Project and finally meeting Karen Peterson face to face.  I will definitely be looking at their resources for my Digital Divas 2.o girls tech club this year.

Btw, the last time I checked there were 4675 photos tagged necc09 at Tag Galaxy Check it out!!

One of the most inspiring sessions that I went to at NECC09 was Chris Lehmann’s session about Progressive Pedagogy and 21^st Century Tools.  I have followed Chris on Twitter for a while now and knew his reputation as a progressive administrator – but never had the chance to hear him speak.

First of all, I love the whole philosophy at Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia.  The school wants students to be thoughtful, wise, passionate and kind.  Their goal is for their kids to be deep thinkers and willing to forgive others of their flaws.  Notice none of these lofty goals are about subjects??? Lehmann states, “We teach kids – not subjects”.  Instead of “I teach physics” – the focus in the students – “I teach kids physics”.

SLA is kid focused and community based.  They want their kids to be passionate about the work they are doing.  I love his quote, “School is real life – not preparation for real life.”  Technology is ubiquitous and invisible in their schools.  Lehmann suggests that we should stop describing our schools as “Schools WITH computers” — of course we have technology – it needs to be part of everything.  SLA is deliberately meta-cognitive – they want to help their students grow to be better thinkers.   Assessment is authentic and transparent.

One of the ways SLA is unique is that their ENTIRE faculty uses the Understanding by Design (Wiggin and McTighe) methodology for curriculum design.  This is very impressive.  Collectively, they have designed unit lessons around 5 core values:  inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation and reflections.  SLA uses common outputs for their curriculum projects with rubrics that evaluate:  design, knowledge, application, process and presentation.  Currently at SLA they are designing commons skill sets that will be taught across all curriculum areas.

Lehmann went on to explain the basic principles of Understanding by Design including establishing goals, essential questions, assessments, and so on.  I studied UBD in my graduate program and I love seeing examples of how it is used in project-based learning.  The activities in any UBD unit needs to be “understanding-drive” – whether you use projects, homework, tests, quizzes or class participation.

Attending his session motivated me to pull out my UBD curriculum plans that I wrote for my Computer Application classes (during my Masters degree) and review them.  I know I need to refocus my efforts and make sure that my activities and assessments are based around established goals and outcomes and the focus is truly on the big picture.

I’m excited to work with my Middle School staff this next year on mapping out how we are infusing technology throughout the whole curriculum.  It will give me an opportunity to share these ideas with my staff and improve the overall quality of our program.

I hope to go to EduCon 2.2 in Philadelphia next year and see firsthand how SLA and their program work.

Link to handouts from session:  http://ubd21c.wikispaces.com/

UbD in a nutshell (pdf):  http://ubd21c.wikispaces.com/file/view/UbD_Nutshell.pdf

I’ve heard about EduBloggerCon for the past two years and have always wanted to participate because the type of people who attend seemed like “my kind of people” — and I am happy to report that I was right.

EduBloggerCon was everything I had hoped for … and more:    smart people talking about interesting topics – people who really CARE about learning, use technology and improving education.  I absolutely loved finally meeting my twitter friends face to face.  Beth Still said it best, “It’s like going to a high school reunion and seeing old friends”.  The morning of EduBloggerCon was filled with handshakes, hugs and lots of “I follow you on Twitter”.  I loved it!

The first unconference session I attended was Web 2.0 smackdown led by Vicki Davis and with Paul Wood as referree.  The time was spent with folks coming up to the mic and quickly sharing some new tool or gadget.  It was quick and fast paced – luckily – folks were twittering the links participating in a Cover It Live chat so I can go back and remember all the cool tools.

The next session was led by Mark Wagner about cool tools we wished we had.  Mark led a discussion about brainstorming ideas for tools that we could “rent a coder” to program.  They were lots of ideas of unique aggregators, assessment rubrics and so on – but one of the neat things that happened if someone suggested an idea — another person said, “oh, that already exists” and then shared the URL of that tool.  I think a lot of folks learned new things.  Mark would like to pursue the rubric idea and I am willing to help.  I already reviewed what Rubistar offers – but love the idea of an interactive rubric that sits on top of Google spreadsheets or one that sends students immediate feedback.  Great session and looking forward to learning more.

One of the most compelling discussions of the day was led by Jon Becker titled “Where School Reform Meets Madonna:  Can public schools fundamentally reinvent themselves?”  This was a thoughtful and insightful discussion about school reform and what we can personally do to improve education.  Yes, it started off with a rehash of what’s wrong with education but then quickly moved to ideas about engaging students with relevant projects, sharing models of what really works, filling the empty space with innovative projects and discussions of how 15, 16, & 17 yr old students are very ME oriented – and can they really chart their own course of how to effective use technology in school?

The next session I attend was a small group that discussed how students can use social media to effect positive social change – led by Mark Wagner.  We shared ideas of how we could engage students by using social media tools while they engage in social justice or service learning activities.  There was a strong sense that this type of “work” is very relevant and meaningful for students and as educators we should encourage more connections by using social tools or use the tools as a reflective process to think about & discuss what they are experiencing while doing service work.

Afterwards,  I had a great discussion with Wes Fryer about his Story Chasers program and how I can incorporate some of the elements of his program with a MS nursing home visitation program that is already being done in my school.  More thoughts on that later.

I showed up late for the last sessions so I just joined a group that was discussing “Social Media Policy & Practice for K-12 Districts” a Conversation with Ann Flynn,
Director, Education Technology, National School Boards Association (with Kevin Jarrett & Scott McLeod).  Even though I teach at a private school that is not governed by a school board, I still gleamed some ideas of how to get my administration on board with social media.

Overall the day was great.  We de-briefed at the end of the day and made plans for future events.  I will definitely try to make EduBloggerConNW a reality at the NCCE conference next March in Seattle.

I need to thank Steve Hargadon for all of his efforts with EduBloggerCon and Adam Frey of Wikispaces for their generous hosting of the afterparty that evening.  It was great to see everyone in good spirits and having a great time.
Kevin Jarrett’s Flickr stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kjarrett/sets/72157620446666009/
Scott Merrick’s Flickr stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/optomystic/sets/72157620507710581/

NECC Hands-On Workshop
Using VoiceThread for Interactive Projects – [Formal Session: BYOL]
Tuesday, 6/30/2009, 3:30pm–4:30pm

Prepare for our session by collecting images for practice project. I selected some images from FlickrStorm (Creative Commons licensing) that you can download for our workshop or bring your own.

PC or Mac users should download Audacityfor audio recording and editing. Consider bringing a headset with microphone for recording audio comments.

Handouts:  http://edtechvision.wikispaces.com/VoiceThread

For our last Tuesday Tech Tip of the year, MaryFran and I decided that we should share our Five Favorite Google Tools.

Mary Fran’s Favs

Five…how could we possibly narrow the number of favorite Google Tools to 5? It has been more challenging than I would have guessed In the end, I decided to chose the five tools I use most.

Search
Most people have their first encounter with Google through Search. They expect to be able to ask a question and get their answer in return. I am continually amazed at the quality of the results and the number of Search Features Google offers. Recently, the Google Search team put together a series of 15 Second Search Tips. The topics range from Unit Conversion to finding local Movie Times. It’s always good to go back and refresh your memory on all Search has to offer.

Search Options, added to the Search page in May, lets you filter your results by type, time, and even offers suggestions for related searches. If you haven’t yet looked at Wonder Wheel you ought to give it a try.

Custom Search
A feature of Search that I like that we haven’t covered is Google’s Custom Search Engine. Being a third grade teacher, setting my students loose in the World Wide Web can sometimes be a bit scary. When I assign third graders to do a research presentation on spiders in the Media Center, I don’t want to have to worry about what results they are going to get for [black widow] and since I want to incorporate teaching skimming and scanning skills, I want to make sure my primary students can read the results they get. So, I set up a Google Custom Search to limit the sites they have access to by simply dropping the URLs for the websites I’ve pre-screened into a form.

Docs
My favorite characteristic of Docs is its collaborative feature. It has helped Colette and me coordinate our schedule, my third grade team and I work together on the Educational Action Plan while I spent two weeks in Buffalo in September, my grade level team share grades for our rotation students, and my students to put together two presentations while working on it at the same time in the Media Center (thank you, Kelli Glass for putting up with the noise and confusion). And because it is all stored in “the Cloud,” I have access to my Docs wherever and whenever I have a device that can access the internet. This came in super handy when I went to give a presentation with my laptop and forgot to bring along the connector to hook my Mac up to the projector…I was able to turn on their Dell and access my slides!

Forms
Another favorite feature of Docs is Forms. I used it to collect phone numbers and e-mail addresses at back-to-school night, thus avoiding having to decipher a parent’s handwriting , to collect information from students on science observations, reactions to our field trips, to “vote” in the November elections, to gather “book report” information, and so much more. It is so easy to set up and the summary information provides instant graphs, and the kids love working online in the classroom or from home.

Gmail
While it took a bit getting used to, I love, love, love, Gmail’s threaded conversations. It is so nice to have all of the communication on a subject right there, in chronological order to refer to. But when that doesn’t work in finding that e-mail I want to refer back to, Search Mail always seems to come through for me.

It is very easy to filter messages to have them go to separate folders, and Google has done an amazing job at keeping SPAM out of my inbox. I also like getting a view of my Calendar and Tasks from the one screen I use most.
I am very excited to see how Google Wave will transform the “email” experience.

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Colette’s Fab Five

My favorite Google tools are similar to MaryFran’s choices – but I guess that shows how valuable these products are.

Gmail
I’ve been using Gmail since it first was in Beta and love it.  It keeps getting better and better.  I first loved how the conversations were linked together and have learned how to “search” for mail instead of wasting time organizing my mail into folders.  The integrated tasksand calendar features are really nice.

Docs / Forms
Using Google Docs& Spreadsheets this year with my HS Computer students has been transformational.  Students are much more willing to collaborate on projects instead of relying on one student to do more of the writing.  We have found so many uses for Forms, like surveys, data collection, and quizzes.  I am even moving all my lesson planning documents online to keep them updated and accessible from anywhere.

Maps
Personally I use maps all the time.  How did I ever find any location before Google Maps?  But now I find that I first go to maps to choose restaurants, accommodations and parks by using the “search nearby” feature.

My students also enjoyed mashing up Google Maps with photos, text and video this year.  Having the ability to go between Google Maps and Google Earth is also pretty cool!

Calendar
I’ve convinced my whole family to start using Google Calendarthis year and now its easy to remind them of important dates and upcoming events.  I color-code different categories (family, school, PD, etc) to make it easier to glance at my calendar and see what’s happening or sort by category.

Search
Last but not least is Google Search.  I love the new Search Options that I wrote about last week.  I use search for everything — recipes, questions, health information, current events – you name it.  I don’t think a day goes by that I don’t use Google search for something.  I find the results relevant and accurate but always have the option to narrow down or broaden my search with advanced search or the new options.

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MaryFran and I met nearly a year ago at the Google Teacher Academy. At the end of a jam-packed 12 hour day, we were challenged to stretch ourselves to learn more about all that Google has to offer and to make a plan to share what we learned with other teachers. As one of our three projects we were asked to commit to, we decided to take on the task of putting out a weekly tech tip for our staffs. It’s been great for the two of us and hopefully you learned something too.

We will not be doing Google Tech Tips Tuesday again next year but I am planning on continuing weekly Tech Tips but branch out to other technology resources.

Once again, thank you for all support and encouragement you’ve given us over the year.
~MaryFran Lynch and Colette Cassinelli

This past month Google unveiled some very helpful Search Options.  Search Options are a collection of tools that allow you to view your results in new ways.  After you search, click on the “show options” link in the upper left hand side of your screen.  This reveals ways you can redefine your results.

The options are grouped together by their type and you can combine options for more precise searches.  The explanation for these features is taken from the Google Search help:

Don’t want to see the search options on the sidebar?  Just click on hide options and your search results turn back to normal.  Also don’t forget to clik on the Reset Options to stop filtering if you choose to narrow your search by time or category.

Ideas for classroom use:

• Use Wonder Wheel to teach students how to narrow down their search results by clicking on one of the related terms on the wheel.
• Use the Timeline view to see when certain terms (like: swine flu) show up throughout history.
• the Past 24 hours option is great to help you find information about current events.
• Use Reviews to assist is making purchases for the classroom.

Watch a video overview of search result options:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtirDMfcOKE&feature=player_embedded