One of the best things that I heard while at the Midwest Google Summit was said by Krista Moroder (@edtechcoaching) when she was discussing the Ed Tech Challenge (http://www.edtechchallenge.com/). She stated that one way to decide whether to use technology as a tool or not depends on it making things more efficient or effective. I could not agree more. I love using technology but the big reason that I love technology is that it can make things more efficient and effective.
People often say that they do not have time to learn about something new in technology. I would counter that they don't have enough time not to learn something new. The big reason that I use Twitter is that it makes it easier for me to get new information while at the same time making it easier for me to connect with others. My professional learning becomes more effective because I can now carry on conversations well past the conference and with people that I can not meet in person.
I use Google Docs with my students because it makes it much more efficient to provide feedback and to include collaboration with all of my students. It makes the learning process more effective by including the chance for them to get feedback from not just me, but other students in class.
I have my students create their own Google Site so that they can have an audience of more than 1. Their learning becomes way more effective when they feel that others may actually see or read what they create. It is a lot more effective than just printing it out and putting it on my wall for a limited few to see, instead the whole world can see it. Many students want to just feel that they have a voice and this is one way that we can do that.
I use formative assessment tools like Google Forms, Socrative or InfuseLearning to make it much more efficient to provide feedback. The learning is more effective if students can see quickly how well they are understanding the content and this gives us the chance to quickly change the class to better meet the needs of our learners. Instead of waiting for the copy machine to spit out the quizzes, taking them home and trying to find the time to grade and analyze all of the quizzes, I can just use the built in tools to do this for me instantly.
We do not have enough time in the day to not use technology effectively. The time that we spend now to learn something new and apply it, is time that we get back later when it is much more important, in the classroom with our students.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Thursday, November 14, 2013
From Flipped Classroom to Flipped PD
A few years back I saw a video of Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergmann that got me started on the path towards a Flipped Classroom.
My school was already a 1:1 school, every student had a white macbook laptop, and I was still trying to find a way to change my teaching style to better meet the needs of all of my students. I wanted to be able to actually meet the needs of all of my students as learners and I knew that using technology could help me find a way that was both effective and efficient. Sams and Bergmann were able to do their Flipped Classroom without a 1:1 environment, but having that technology so easily available gave me more opportunities in the classroom. I tried giving my students choices, not just on what they did but also on how they were assessed. I forgot about the text and instead focused on the main learning standards they should be able to master. I was finally on the path that I was hoping for as a teacher, because my classroom was starting to be that classroom that my students needed. It was not about the videos, it was about the different learning opportunities that my students were able to take part in. I did not change so that I could sit in the back and watch my students work, I changed so that I could have more time interacting with my students in a smaller setting. The large lecture was gone and instead we had small group discussions or even 1 on 1 instruction.
I am hoping to carry these ideals with me into my new position as a technology integrationist. I believe that professional development for teachers should reflect the best practices that we use in the classroom. Our teachers are just like our students, they do not all learn the same way at the same pace and they are all at different levels. Our professional development should be created in such a way that we can meet the needs that they have. That is why I was really happy to learn about the Flipped PD that was taking place in Stillwater, MN. What they were doing was exactly what I wanted to do.
Technology again is going to make this easier. By creating a collection of resources online, teachers can make uses of these resources to begin to learn something new. When they need the extra help, I am there to help them along the way. The goal is to stay away from having everyone attend hours of lecture driven PD and instead have individualized, differentiated professional development that gives us the chance to be more effective. Just like the classroom when the students had trouble getting started, teachers sometimes also have trouble knowing where to start. That is part of my job, to help curate and focus the resources that teachers need so that they can more easily get going with their learning. Professional development, like teaching, is most effective when it is focused on the actual needs of the learners. The exact look of our Flipped PD is not set yet, but I am sure it will be an ever changing approach to meet the needs of teachers as their needs evolve.
My school was already a 1:1 school, every student had a white macbook laptop, and I was still trying to find a way to change my teaching style to better meet the needs of all of my students. I wanted to be able to actually meet the needs of all of my students as learners and I knew that using technology could help me find a way that was both effective and efficient. Sams and Bergmann were able to do their Flipped Classroom without a 1:1 environment, but having that technology so easily available gave me more opportunities in the classroom. I tried giving my students choices, not just on what they did but also on how they were assessed. I forgot about the text and instead focused on the main learning standards they should be able to master. I was finally on the path that I was hoping for as a teacher, because my classroom was starting to be that classroom that my students needed. It was not about the videos, it was about the different learning opportunities that my students were able to take part in. I did not change so that I could sit in the back and watch my students work, I changed so that I could have more time interacting with my students in a smaller setting. The large lecture was gone and instead we had small group discussions or even 1 on 1 instruction.
I am hoping to carry these ideals with me into my new position as a technology integrationist. I believe that professional development for teachers should reflect the best practices that we use in the classroom. Our teachers are just like our students, they do not all learn the same way at the same pace and they are all at different levels. Our professional development should be created in such a way that we can meet the needs that they have. That is why I was really happy to learn about the Flipped PD that was taking place in Stillwater, MN. What they were doing was exactly what I wanted to do.
Technology again is going to make this easier. By creating a collection of resources online, teachers can make uses of these resources to begin to learn something new. When they need the extra help, I am there to help them along the way. The goal is to stay away from having everyone attend hours of lecture driven PD and instead have individualized, differentiated professional development that gives us the chance to be more effective. Just like the classroom when the students had trouble getting started, teachers sometimes also have trouble knowing where to start. That is part of my job, to help curate and focus the resources that teachers need so that they can more easily get going with their learning. Professional development, like teaching, is most effective when it is focused on the actual needs of the learners. The exact look of our Flipped PD is not set yet, but I am sure it will be an ever changing approach to meet the needs of teachers as their needs evolve.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Failure is an option.....
I used to have hanging in my classroom a piece of paper that said "Failure is an option, failure to learn is not an option." The purpose of this was to help show to my students that they were allowed to make mistakes and even fail along the way.
We are not perfect creatures and we are allowed to make mistakes. What is important is that we learn from those mistakes and grow. I was always worried that my students stressed out too much because in so many classes they are not allowed to make mistakes. Everything has a grade and if you make a mistake on that worksheet, your grade would suffer. That seemed wrong to me. First off, I do not like grading everything, it seems to be a waste of time and I pride myself on being efficient. Just because I give something a grade does not mean that it has meaning. But yet we have so many students that are forced into cheating because one bad grade will ruin their chance at a scholarship or will get them in trouble at home.
I remembered my experience as a resident assistant on an honors floor at college. There were students there that were very successful all throughout their schooling years and many had never failed at anything before. Then they would come to college and be challenged, for what may be the first time, and some would fail. They did not know how to deal with that failure. They did not know how to view that as a learning opportunity and how that failure could help them become better.
The first time I did a presentation about my Flipped Classroom, I made sure to start with that line. Because of anything that I talked about during that hour, I felt that may have been the most important thing. I was proud that my classroom was a place that students were allowed to make mistakes. They were allowed to LEARN! I make mistakes and I learn from them. I do not tailspin into despair when I fail, I instead learn and improve the next time. The big question we have to ask ourselves as teachers is, "is our classroom designed to allow students to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes or does our classroom perpetuate that mentality that one bad assignment can ruin your grade?"
We are not perfect creatures and we are allowed to make mistakes. What is important is that we learn from those mistakes and grow. I was always worried that my students stressed out too much because in so many classes they are not allowed to make mistakes. Everything has a grade and if you make a mistake on that worksheet, your grade would suffer. That seemed wrong to me. First off, I do not like grading everything, it seems to be a waste of time and I pride myself on being efficient. Just because I give something a grade does not mean that it has meaning. But yet we have so many students that are forced into cheating because one bad grade will ruin their chance at a scholarship or will get them in trouble at home.
I remembered my experience as a resident assistant on an honors floor at college. There were students there that were very successful all throughout their schooling years and many had never failed at anything before. Then they would come to college and be challenged, for what may be the first time, and some would fail. They did not know how to deal with that failure. They did not know how to view that as a learning opportunity and how that failure could help them become better.
The first time I did a presentation about my Flipped Classroom, I made sure to start with that line. Because of anything that I talked about during that hour, I felt that may have been the most important thing. I was proud that my classroom was a place that students were allowed to make mistakes. They were allowed to LEARN! I make mistakes and I learn from them. I do not tailspin into despair when I fail, I instead learn and improve the next time. The big question we have to ask ourselves as teachers is, "is our classroom designed to allow students to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes or does our classroom perpetuate that mentality that one bad assignment can ruin your grade?"
Ed Camps vs Traditional PD
One of the best things that I did this year was attend a couple of Ed Camps. Before last spring I had never attended an Ed Camp or really even heard too much about them. I would see some stuff on Twitter about them but didn't think too much about it. Luckily I had some friends ask if I wanted to go with them to one and that was all it took. That day of learning was by far the best day of learning I have had with other teachers. Standard conferences are nice but actually having time to have discussions and learn together is the key part of learning. Not to mention the people that I got to connect with in person for the first time, some I had connected with on Twitter but meeting people face to face is always key.
For those that do not know about Ed Camps, they usually follow the same guidelines. There is no set schedule ahead of time, there are no presenters and there are definitely no handouts copied before you arrive. Ed Camps usually happen on Saturdays, so the people who want to attend are the only ones there, no one forces you to go. The schedule for the day is set in the first session, people propose topics they would like to discuss and the list is created from the audience, not the people running the Ed Camp. You go to the sessions you want to go to and if that session turns out to be something you do not like, you use your feet to move to another one that you do. Twitter becomes useful at this point since you can quickly find out where the great discussions are taking place and join those groups. You will find that a lot of the educators at Ed Camps are on Twitter and the discussions can continue even after the conference thanks to that tool. One session that I really enjoyed at the last Ed Camp that I was at was titled "Rocks or Sucks". Pretty much you had to pick whether a certain topic sucked, rocked or you could even be in the middle. You had to state reasons to support your decision and people had to take turns, this was not going to turn into a shouting match. It was a great opportunity to understand different viewpoints and find out that there was a lot of common ground, things we all could agree on. I can not wait to go to more Ed Camps, I just need more free weekends.
Now compare this to our traditional professional development that takes place at school. Most of the time you have no say in the schedule, you are forced to go, there is a single presenter who almost always has a ton of handouts for you. There is no time to go deeper into the content and definitely no time to apply what you learned. People usually do not come away feeling refreshed and energized, a lot of people come away feeling unhappy and tired.
Not all PD is bad though, many schools are trying to do differentiated PD that is focused on the actual needs teachers have. The question that many are asking though is, "what would happen if our PD was like an Ed Camp?" I would love to think that PD would be great if it was set up like an Ed Camp, but unfortunately there is a reason that Ed Camps are still not attended by whole schools. We have teachers who do not see the importance of PD or any other way to improve as a teacher. They are comfortable with where they are at and they will teach the same no matter what happens. The question I have then is, "what can we do to help those teachers?" I think a school doing its own Ed Camp is a great idea and one I hope to see happen soon. We have to remember that we are teachers, we are an important part of the learning process and we can not be afraid to learn ourselves. If we do not model what it is like to be a learner for our students, then how can we expect them to become learners and excel in our classrooms?
For those that do not know about Ed Camps, they usually follow the same guidelines. There is no set schedule ahead of time, there are no presenters and there are definitely no handouts copied before you arrive. Ed Camps usually happen on Saturdays, so the people who want to attend are the only ones there, no one forces you to go. The schedule for the day is set in the first session, people propose topics they would like to discuss and the list is created from the audience, not the people running the Ed Camp. You go to the sessions you want to go to and if that session turns out to be something you do not like, you use your feet to move to another one that you do. Twitter becomes useful at this point since you can quickly find out where the great discussions are taking place and join those groups. You will find that a lot of the educators at Ed Camps are on Twitter and the discussions can continue even after the conference thanks to that tool. One session that I really enjoyed at the last Ed Camp that I was at was titled "Rocks or Sucks". Pretty much you had to pick whether a certain topic sucked, rocked or you could even be in the middle. You had to state reasons to support your decision and people had to take turns, this was not going to turn into a shouting match. It was a great opportunity to understand different viewpoints and find out that there was a lot of common ground, things we all could agree on. I can not wait to go to more Ed Camps, I just need more free weekends.
Now compare this to our traditional professional development that takes place at school. Most of the time you have no say in the schedule, you are forced to go, there is a single presenter who almost always has a ton of handouts for you. There is no time to go deeper into the content and definitely no time to apply what you learned. People usually do not come away feeling refreshed and energized, a lot of people come away feeling unhappy and tired.
Not all PD is bad though, many schools are trying to do differentiated PD that is focused on the actual needs teachers have. The question that many are asking though is, "what would happen if our PD was like an Ed Camp?" I would love to think that PD would be great if it was set up like an Ed Camp, but unfortunately there is a reason that Ed Camps are still not attended by whole schools. We have teachers who do not see the importance of PD or any other way to improve as a teacher. They are comfortable with where they are at and they will teach the same no matter what happens. The question I have then is, "what can we do to help those teachers?" I think a school doing its own Ed Camp is a great idea and one I hope to see happen soon. We have to remember that we are teachers, we are an important part of the learning process and we can not be afraid to learn ourselves. If we do not model what it is like to be a learner for our students, then how can we expect them to become learners and excel in our classrooms?
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Midwest Google Summit Reflection #1
(I posted this on my Google Site that I made for my job at Ames High School but wanted to also post this here.)
While at the Midwest Google Summit this past week at the Wisconsin Dells in Wisconsin, I had the extreme fortune to listen to Krista Moroder. Krista is a Director of Learning for Instructional Technology and Library Media in a Wisconsin school district. She was presenting about their EdTech Challenge (www.edtechchallenge.com), which is the professional development plan for her district that was developed between many people across the country. Krista went through the whole thought process that she had about this project, which is a great way to help teachers use technology effectively in their classrooms. She focuses on the fact that technology is a tool and should only be used when it makes the lesson more efficient and effective. We always discuss how we need to focus on the learner and not on the tool and her message was spot on. Some of her key points have aligned nicely with my visions for our professional development at Ames High School. I highly suggest that everyone in education watch this video and think about how it applies to your situation and how you can change the situation for the better.
While at the Midwest Google Summit this past week at the Wisconsin Dells in Wisconsin, I had the extreme fortune to listen to Krista Moroder. Krista is a Director of Learning for Instructional Technology and Library Media in a Wisconsin school district. She was presenting about their EdTech Challenge (www.edtechchallenge.com), which is the professional development plan for her district that was developed between many people across the country. Krista went through the whole thought process that she had about this project, which is a great way to help teachers use technology effectively in their classrooms. She focuses on the fact that technology is a tool and should only be used when it makes the lesson more efficient and effective. We always discuss how we need to focus on the learner and not on the tool and her message was spot on. Some of her key points have aligned nicely with my visions for our professional development at Ames High School. I highly suggest that everyone in education watch this video and think about how it applies to your situation and how you can change the situation for the better.
What is our focus?
This Sunday I was reading the local paper and I was kind of confused. The majority of the front page of a large newspaper in the state was dedicated to a story about goats. Now I know the story was more than just about goats, but if you looked quickly at the page all you would see is goats. Tucked into the upper right corner was a small blurb about what many would think is a minor event, because there was not much space dedicated to this story so it must not be important. That story was just about the 10,000 suspected dead due to the recent typhoon. Apparently a story about goats was more important than a story about 10,000 possibly dying due to a major storm.
Now lets transfer this to the classroom. When people make observations about a classroom they expect that what is taking up the most of the time or the grade is the most important aspect. But is this always true? If students are our focus in the classroom, do they take up most of the time or are we taking up the majority of the time and giving them whatever time remains? When grading a paper, where do we put our focus as far as points? Do we focus on the content or on the presentation style? Do we care about what they say or do we care about how they say it?
I understand that the story that the paper put front and center was one they had worked on for a bit and it was their own story, not a national news story that was breaking news. They had ownership over that story, so they felt it was the main thing that should go on the front page. The decision to do that has big implications. Just like the decisions that a teacher makes about what to spend the most time on during class. That becomes the focus and that may not always be the best thing to be the focus. We should always be aware of how students will view what is important in class, is it the thing that takes up 5 minutes or the thing that takes up 20 minutes?
Now lets transfer this to the classroom. When people make observations about a classroom they expect that what is taking up the most of the time or the grade is the most important aspect. But is this always true? If students are our focus in the classroom, do they take up most of the time or are we taking up the majority of the time and giving them whatever time remains? When grading a paper, where do we put our focus as far as points? Do we focus on the content or on the presentation style? Do we care about what they say or do we care about how they say it?
I understand that the story that the paper put front and center was one they had worked on for a bit and it was their own story, not a national news story that was breaking news. They had ownership over that story, so they felt it was the main thing that should go on the front page. The decision to do that has big implications. Just like the decisions that a teacher makes about what to spend the most time on during class. That becomes the focus and that may not always be the best thing to be the focus. We should always be aware of how students will view what is important in class, is it the thing that takes up 5 minutes or the thing that takes up 20 minutes?
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