#tisinaction

As of today, I will no longer be posting my blog on tumblr. Now that I’ve really gotten into blogging, I decided to take a more professional approach and move to a site that is more suited to my needs. I also needed something not blocked by school districts so my content was more easily accessible. If you’re here because you’ve picked up my business card or because you found this blog some other way, click the link below:

As I go along, I’m always learning new things about GAFE and its set of programs. Today I was exploring ways to use Google Classroom in the math classroom and came across the equation editor in Google Docs. While I am aware that there are some more robust add-ons (and that I’m looking into them!), I went ahead and put together a quick how-to sheet for my staff while I learn the other add-ons.

I’ve mentioned numerous times about how being a connected educator has changed my perspective on my personal growth and development as an educator. One of my goals this year is to show other teachers how to become connected educators, and the benefits from doing so.

It took me some time to figure out just how to do this. As an ITRT in my district, I am required to offer professional development sessions after school. I will be doing two a month. This will be in addition to my club that I’ll be hosting once a month, and any other after school meetings that I have to attend. I didn’t want to just add another PD day after school, as I felt this might overwork me, but also because it might keep people from attending.

Instead, I took the 1:1 route. I did this for a few reasons. The first I mentioned above. Another reason was because I wanted anyone who wanted to learn to be able to choose their day and time. They could choose either before school or during their planning, but it would only be done in half hour chunks. I also would be able to personalize the training to meet the needs of the staff member that I would be working with at the time. I would move at their pace, and they wouldn’t have to feel overwhelmed.

I sent out an email to my middle school and high school staff, seeking those interested in becoming connected through blogs and Twitter. I was very surprised at the response, and have ended up with about ten people from the high school and middle school that would like to give things a try. It doesn’t seem like a lot, especially when the high school has over 100 staff members, but it’s enough for me. It’s honestly more that I could have ever expected, and I’m hoping to keep these members wanting to be connected.

Now that I have some interested educators, it’s time for me to take the next steps. I’m going to have them decide whether they want to learn about blogging or Twitter first. No matter which tool they pick, in most cases we are going to start with a “watch first” approach and then work on taking action slowly. I have seen and attended sessions where users are happy to join Twitter or create a blogging account, but then it’s never used again after that session. It falls to the wayside and is abandoned.

Thinking differently isn’t enough. We can think differently all we want, but that’s only a step in the right direction. It takes more than just a step to evoke change. We also can’t simply replace one thing with another, such as when teachers replace pencil and paper with computers and tablets. In many cases, all that has been done was replace the traditional with a far more expensive tool, unless educators decide to use the tool to make their lessons do something new or better.

As an instructional technology resource teacher trying to help teachers see how they can innovate with the technology they have in their classroom can be rather difficult. My district recently received a large load of Chromebooks. All levels received a cart of 30-40 Chromebooks to share between 2 or 3 teachers. At the high school level, all English teachers received their own Chromebook carts. This is great!… except it’s not. We’re almost 2 months into the school year and teachers are typically using the Chromebook for the following: MAP or IA testing, Mobymax/Study Island, or simply having them type up papers. This is one use for a Chromebook, but it’s nowhere near the best use. All that’s been done is replaced the typical pencil and paper tools. And while the data and computer adaptive nature of some of the above programs are amazing, that’s not all that the Chromebooks should be used for.

My fellow ITRTs and I are trying to counter this use of the tool, but it’s very difficult to accomplish. So far we’ve offered professional development that’s been lacking in attendance, usually a handful at most. When I came on board this year, I made the suggestion to move to doing Google Classroom self-guided professional development. Our teachers had 3 options to partake- in person, Google Classroom-based, or 1:1 with one of us instead. Our sessions that are being offered are based on the feedback given from staff so we go from offering Google-based sessions to others, such as Kahoot or Seesaw Portfolios.

Despite the feedback and new ways of attending sessions, we feel the reception to be lukewarm at best. This is a problem for us because in most cases professional development isn’t mandatory for teachers. They have to attend anything offered on a staff day, and they need 180 points for licensure renewal (VA requirement), but they don’t need to attend so many sessions a year. It was like this in my previous district. They had to get 18 hours of PD each year, but if they attended the Opening Day session and the next day, they easily had 12 hours completed.

Even if the trainers have the tools to help teachers begin to innovate their lessons or to help inspire them with something new, it does no good without teachers attending the sessions. This is my 3rd year in instructional technology, and still I don’t have the answer to this. I haven’t figured out a way to make professional development sessions new and better, at least in the sense of getting more people to attend them. I have moved away from the sit and get method, and the sessions I offer have teachers doing hands -on work. I know this still isn’t enough, and I’m working to improve in that regard.

It’s Friday and that means it’s time for another Positive Post Friday!

Fridays mark the end of the work week. Fridays mark the start of the weekend. Fridays should end the week on a positive note. Therefore, I’m going to share 5 positive things that happened this week:

1. Today I am at a training for NWEA-MAP. We are ready to learn more about effective uses of the program. It really makes the training better when you have colleagues with you who are excited and love to share and discuss.

2. I met with more teachers who are part of my Connected Educator team this week. Both of them were interested in blogging and ready to learn how to share their stories. I really cannot wait to see where this professional development leads.

3. This week began participation in #IMMOOC, which is this massive book study group reading and responding to George Couros’ Innovator’s Mindset. Each week begins with a Youtube Live video, required reading, and possible ways to respond to the material, including quick video reflection. I was a little late in getting started, so I didn’t get my stuff finished until Wednesday night. I can’t wait to read more blogs and see what others thought.

4. I hosted #wvedchat’s biweekly chat this week and had a blast. I got a lot of comments and remarks about the topic. It was very fast paced, but oh so worth it. I love being able to host things like that.

5. I spent two days this week helping a MS student during Genius Hour with his project. He did his on video games and wanted to make his own game. His teacher contacted me and asked for help. He and I have been discussing his plans, as well as working on Gamestar Mechanic. He’s excited and eager ot figure out the program!

Your turn: Share your Positive Post Friday.

I started this post with the quote from the very beginning of the introduction to George Couros’ Innovator’s Mindset because it resonated strongly with me, even after I finished reading the section. Ever since I was little, I’ve been curious about the world around me. My interests have changed and evolved over the years, but no matter where I end up, I seem to be curious about learning new things. Perhaps this is why I hate click bait articles so much... I know they aren’t as good as they are made out to be, but my curiosity can’t resist at times.

Curiosity lends a lot to my desire to learn new things and to seek new information. As an educator, I’m eager to seek new opportunities for professional development to learn new things. I get to learn about GIS and makerspace next week, and I’m sure more opportunities will arise throughout the year. I am eagerly developing professional development for staff, and am so very proud of my effort to create some new connected educators. I tell many educators that all it takes is being motivated to want to learn something new, especially when it comes to my technology PD sessions.

Education should make us motivated and curious about learning. We should willingly seek new knowledge, be willing to share that knowledge openly with others. To me, this is the true purpose of education. And yet we send five and six year olds to school curious and eager to start, and by the time they graduate, they can’t wait to get out of school and move forward. They are done with school and all it entails.

Something has to change. The times are changing. The way we learn and the way kids learn is changing. School should no longer be the time where children sit and consume knowledge with bouts of time for them to explore their passions. No, not at all. School should encourage them to be creators, innovators, game changers. We expect them to change the way the world works, but how can we expect that if we don’t change the way their education works?

Last night I hosted #wvedchat’s biweekly edchat. Originally, Dr. Rikki Lowe was to be the main host and I was to be the 2nd moderator to assist. However, she had a family emergency, and so I took over the chat. She had all of the images prepared, so I only had to make sure they got uploaded at the proper times. Well that, and encourage the conversation to expand.

If you’ve never hosted an edchat, it can be a bit daunting. Being a participant and watching things move quickly is one thing, but watching as a moderator and replying/liking others’ tweets is a whole other ballgame. My fingers were left flying across the keyboard as I participated, but in the end, I was pleased with how things turned out. 

We focused on lessons from summer professional development, and the things that were learned. Many of us shared edtech tools or workshops that we attended. If you weren’t there, what was your favorite summer PD opportunity, and why?

Transcript here

I was very, very excited yesterday when my fellow colleague Derek Oldfield posted a LinkedIn blog from Keith O’Neal on 100 West Virginia Educators to Follow on Twitter. Turns out O’Neal is doing the #eduFollowChallenge, and is working on creating a post for every state. At this point, he’s nearly finished, and his LinkedIn profile has every single post so far.

I decided to curate all of his posts into one easy list, not only for myself, but for others as well. That way I can always go back and check out new people I may want to follow. I went through the Virginia list this morning and specifically sought out edtech and ITRT folks. I looked through the West Virginia one last night and found I knew nearly every person listed.

I also plan to pass this list on to those teachers who are participating in my Connected Educator professional development. I know it’ll help them find new followers on their own time, and it’ll give them a big start.

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland (DC is included here)

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming