Accelerated Innovation

Yesterday was a great day for thinking about the future and realizing the possibilities of applying educational technology beyond school.  In the morning I attended a great meeting at the San Mateo County Office of education (http://izones.org/#) which consisted of teachers, administrators, stakeholders, and other individuals and organizations that want to see an accelerated integration of technology in school and beyond.  Technology that students will inevitably need not only to be comfortable using, but to be competitive and successful problem solvers in the future.  A group of students from The Bayside STEM Academy (http://stem.schoolloop.com/) did an incredible job showcasing what engaged and energized students are capable of accomplishing.  They wanted to talk, they wanted to share, they were comfortable presenting in front of adults and they were proud of their accomplishments.  They had already used design thinking (http://dschool.stanford.edu/) to tackle problems and develop solutions for their projects and they were excited to discuss upcoming projects they'd be working on.  The premise of the meeting was not only to showcase the incredible things students are accomplishing, but to help create a network of educators, administrators, and anyone else with a vested interest in students succeeding in a growing technological world.  Ideally through this network those involved would give and get ideas and help support efforts accelerate innovation in our schools and beyond.

Back at school I met with my afternoon classes and my head was spinning thinking of more and better ways we could be using technology at our school site.  One small step I am taking is creating a TED-Ed club consisting of 5th graders that will meet  one day a week after school.  http://ed.ted.com/clubs 

In the evening we hosted a parent technology information meeting.  I work at a Title I school and overall the demographic is low income. There was a promising turnout of about twenty parents and they were very appreciative to find out what technology their children are using at school.  They were also receptive to hearing about programs students could be using at home too.   It was informative for me to see the lack of internet connectivity some students have at home.  We were able to help some parents who didn't have email accounts set up free ones.  Over all I thought the meeting went very well and we are going to host two to three more meetings before the end of the year.  Having parents involved and invested with what's happening at school will also help bring accelerated innovation beyond the classroom.

Not a bad short week!  Now looking forward to enjoying the long President's weekend!

Thoughts on tools for implementing CCSS

"Best practices" is an educational buzz phrase I've heard tossed around  for many years. It makes sense. Take what's working, concentrate your efforts there, and enjoy seeing students grow and flourish.  But it seems like next best curriculum materials are initially clamored over, with professional development days tossed together highlighting potential sure fire results and then as quickly as these fixes emerge they sink back into abysm as another curriculum contender surfaces and the cycle repeats.

During the sixteen years I've been teaching, no doubt, there has been some strong curriculum adopted. Unfortunately such curriculum loses support when a trendy new fix emerges.  With all  the hype and controversy surrounding the new common core state standards, I think techniques and tools are going to be the ticket to disseminating growing and dynamic content with students.  It seems like teachers and students will be able to wade through vast arrays of information together while collaborating and concluding together what is most important and needs to be delved into further for deeper understanding.

The idea of students driven to guide their own learning is utopian for sure.  Striking a balance between developing foundational skills that need to be explicitly taught while helping students figure out which way to adjust the rudder, pointing themselves on course for their future, seems like it may be the challenge of really getting the CCSS widely accepted, off the ground and running. 

With solid tools and techniques in place for sharing content and curriculum adapting to the new CCSS may seem less daunting.  As I've been working with a 5th grade student I've seen the value of using an  app like frolyc.com to quickly create lessons that are both personalized and high interest along side lessons that are necessary for building foundational skills. 

My high school English teacher, Mr. Rex, would put a different quote on the blackboard everyday to discuss (yes...I said blackboard...the kind with chalk, not blackboard.com) and this is one that always stuck with me:  “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” 

― Pablo Picasso

It speaks to the need for a foundation and what you can build on it once it's there.

Personalization Possibilities

It is exciting to see the progress the student I'm tutoring is making with writing.  This week we worked on a lesson about skateboarding I designed with https://www.frolyc.com/.  The more personalized the lesson is the more engaged the student is and the more writing he produces.  This week he even wanted to go back and add to his answers to make them more detailed by connecting to the information he already knew and the new information he read!  Usually he is in more of a rush to get through the lesson.   I'm really impressed with his increased attention and desire to do well.  It's very exciting to see the increase engagement when lessons are relevant and personalized.  I think I'd like to experiment with him actually authoring one of our upcoming lessons!

Weaving with the CCSS

This past week I've continued reading about various Ed Tech topics and am looking forward to participating in the dlt3 MOOC https://courses.mooc-ed.org/dlt3/preview that is starting.  With such a boom in educational technology I hope it gives some insight into how to figure out what direction is best.    I also created another activity for the student I tutor using the Frolyc app https://www.frolyc.com/   For this activity I used the topic of photosynthesis and tried to incorporate a couple of different common core standards (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.7 & CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.9).  One thing I really liked about the activity was seeing the student go back to the two different passages about photosynthesis to compose a short answer to a comprehension question and to create and label a diagram showcasing what he learned about photosynthesis.  As a precursor to the activity he watched a short YouTube clip about photosynthesis.  The activity took 20 - 30 minutes to create and the student was engaged throughout the activity.  When he was finished we went back through the activity and he reviewed his answers and explained his diagram to me.  I really like being able to create high interest activities quickly.  Next I'm going to put together an activity about skateboarding.  Having personalized activities keeps the student a lot more interested during our tutoring sessions.

Looking forward to a short but productive week!

2nd Post...Moving Forward

I thought I'd follow up on last week's post and try to keep the momentum going!  As part of of my aspiration to become more involved with a global ed tech community I signed up for a MOOC https://courses.mooc-ed.org/dlt3/preview

I've also been reflecting on some of the successes I've had integrating technology this year.
 One app I was introduced to and have used with success both with a summer school class and a student I have been tutoring is called Frolyc.  https://www.frolyc.com/  This app allows me to differentiate instruction and easily design a mini lesson to use with a small group or individual student.  Recently I used the app with a 5th grade student I've been tutoring.  Using the umbrella of reading comprehension I broke the activity into three parts.  First, the student had to read a passage about Cross-Training.  Next, he answered a couple of open ended comprehension questions.  To end the activity he drew and labeled activities he'd include in a cross-training program for himself.

 What was really awesome to see was how engaged he was with the activity.  When I asked him how he felt about the activity he gave me a thumbs up, a big smile and asked if we could do another one next week.  One of the tools he really liked was the text to speech recognition so he could listen and follow along with what was being read.

Well that's two posts!  Here's to a 3rd!

Aspirations

After teaching 4th and 5th grades for 15 years I had the good fortune of becoming a Technology Resource Teacher at a K- 5 school this year.  So far the position has been both exciting and challenging.  Designing computer skills lessons for upper grades has been one of the most interesting parts of the job.  It is inspiring to see how engaged and motivated students are by web based tech tools and educational programs.  One of the biggest challenges has been equity or equal access to technology.  The computers and devices that students have access varies some from classroom to classroom and vastly across the district.  As a classroom teacher with limited access to technology I had to find resources that I could use whole class such as projecting the daily free BrainPop animation if it was at all relevant to anything we were learning about in class.  Now I find it exciting to research and integrate technology that can help develop tech skills and compliment the lessons students are working on in their classrooms.  Even though the technology varies from classroom to classroom all students are able to visit the Computer Lab on a weekly basis, the computers are connected to the internet and in decent working shape.

I've been reading a lot about educational technology, following a lot of educators on social media like Twitter, attending some online courses and webinars and attended a CUE and Launch conference.  Beyond trying to soak in as much inspiring knowledge as I can  I haven't been as active as I could in connecting with other educators.  As the remainder of the school year dips towards June I want to continue to stay current on developments and best practices in Educational Technology and become more active participating in online ed tech chats, blogging and connecting with other educators to gain and share ideas.

Here's to 2014 Aspirations!