Next Friday ends the first semester for me at Ames High as the Tech Integrationist. It definitely has been an interesting semester and there are a lot of differences between being a classroom teacher and more of a technology coach.
First let me state that I am accustomed to change and my teaching career has been full of changes. I changed my classes and students 3 weeks into my first year as a teacher, a teacher had to retire early, and I have taught 12 different classes in 3 districts with 6 different principals. I am used to change and expect it, if things stay the same for tool long it makes me feel like something is wrong.
The biggest change has to be that I start my day in an office or a meeting and not with students. It is hard not to miss the classes with students and all of the joys that one gets from seeing students understanding and learning. Most of my work now does not bring me always into contact with students so it becomes harder to always see the student effects of my work. I know I am affecting teachers and I hope that is affecting the students but that is not always evident. That type of feedback was important to help me modify what I did day to day, now I have to look for other types of feedback to make sure that I am being effective and that I change what is not working.
This was also the first semester for my school as a 1:1 school. We had a bit of technical issues in the first couple of months with our wireless system that made it difficult for many classes to make use of the computers. We opted to not use Microsoft Office and instead focus on Google Apps and LibreOffice. There is a learning curve to leaving Office behind but not as big as it once was. Many businesses and colleges are leaving Office and moving either towards Google Apps or some open source solution. We had a noticeable lack of technology available to everyone before and now we have laptops with each student. This has created many opportunities for trying new things and learning about how to better change instruction to meet the needs of our students as they are today and not as they were in the past.
I have met with many teachers to go over lesson ideas and to help them learn how to either use a new tool or how to change activities and lessons to better meet the needs of the students. I have created a website that has many tech tips and ideas to share with teachers and others. I even created a separate page specifically for our students based on the needs expressed to me by teachers or by students themselves. I get to spend some time in classrooms, not as much as I would like but I see that happening more as we go into the second semester. I have helped some teachers get onto Twitter and experience the benefits of being connected while showing others the same benefits and hoping they will take advantage of that in the future. I have met with our core departments to discuss evaluating their own tech use and how we can change in the future.
There are many challenges that we have yet to overcome but we are on a positive path. The success of our 1:1 is not dependent on one person but I know that I will hopefully play a big role. I have had experience at my previous school before and during the time it was a 1:1 and I hope to use what we learned from that experience to make the experience at Ames a better one. There is a lot we can learn from other districts but we have to remember that each district is different and we can not just copy what some other district did to become successful. We have to modify and adjust each idea and technique to best fit our students and our teachers. We will have success and we will have failures, but those failures are useful in that we can learn from them and improve.
I was asked the other day about what I envision Ames being like in a couple of years and I had no answer because I tend to focus on the present with only a small glance towards the future. I have never been one to have a master plan that stretches years into the future, at least a detailed one. I have hopes and wants for where we can go in the next few years but I am focused on the 2nd semester and making sure we have a positive momentum going into next year. The joy of teaching is that you never really know what the next day will bring but you prepare the best you can and enjoy the moments when they happen.
Friday, January 10, 2014
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
11, 11, 11
Time for a fun blog post, not really geared towards education but one that is coming about thanks to connections made with other educators through social media. Mande was kind enough to tag me to forward this along as a blog assignment. Seeing as I am trying to focus on blog posts this year, I think it is ok to do one that is not as serious as the others. So here goes.
11 Random Facts about Me
11 Questions
1. What's your favorite book character? Why?
Tully Mars from A Salty Piece of Land by Jimmy Buffett, living the life that Jimmy sings about seems like fun.
2. If you could have a super power, what would it be?
Flying or teleporting, I would love to be able to get to places faster and without having to pay for gas or airline tickets.
3. What's your favorite 'get to know someone new" question?
To steal from Gus on Psych, "so, did you hear about Pluto?"
4. Would you ever consider a job that required an out of country relocation?
Yes, but only if it was on a tropical island.
5. What did you think you'd be as an adult when you were 8?
Veterinarian, but then I found out that I prefer physics to the squishy parts of science.
6. Now, what's your dream job?
Pretty much what I am doing now, that or a fishing guide on a tropical island.
7. How long does it take you to get to work?
Less than 5 minutes, my shortest drive as a teacher ever. Longest was closer to 40 minutes each way.
8. What was your proudest moment thus far?
Too many to list that involve my son, every day he does something great.
9. What's your favorite thing to cook?
Most things on the grill or pulled pork in a slow cooker.
10. Android or iOS?
Was iOS only for the last 5 years or so but I am giving Android a try, I like the look and feel of iOS but love the widgets and customization in Android.
11. What's the last thing you said out loud?
What questions do you have? (just left a classroom where I was helping students with a project)
Now for the next part, I have to nominate 11 (we will see how many) people to continue this. They have to acknowledge the person who nominated them, write 11 random facts about themselves, answer the 11 questions provided and then send it on to 11 more people. Since I am not feeling that creative today, I am just going to push the 11 questions I got forward. Also, most of the people that I know who blog have already done this so I am just going to send this out to whoever wants to do it. Might not be a bad way to start blogging.
11 Random Facts about Me
- Born in Albert Lea, MN.
- I have a 3 year old son who is by far the best thing I have ever created.
- I have a wife who is a lawyer and tries to use her lawyer skills to win arguments.
- I started college as a civil engineering student but switched to physics and secondary education.
- Even though I did not come to Iowa till college, I have now lived in 4 different cities in Iowa and taught in 3.
- I am really enjoying my new position as a technology integrationist, lots of new challenges and it is helping me connect with a lot more awesome educators.
- I have worked with 6 different principals in my 10 years of being a teacher. 1 in Cedar Rapids, 3 at South Hamilton in 5 years and 2 here in Ames (I was at both the Middle School and High School last year).
- I have taught 10 different subjects in my 9 years in the classroom, 12 if you count each time I taught Physics in a different district since each had slightly different curriculums.
- I have won 1st place in a couple fishing tournaments and was a BASS Casting Kids champ for my region as a kid.
- I love technology, it is now my top hobby since I spend more time playing with it and less time golfing or fishing.
- I have missed the classroom and the students this year but I know that when I get back into the classroom, I will be a better teacher than before.
11 Questions
1. What's your favorite book character? Why?
Tully Mars from A Salty Piece of Land by Jimmy Buffett, living the life that Jimmy sings about seems like fun.
2. If you could have a super power, what would it be?
Flying or teleporting, I would love to be able to get to places faster and without having to pay for gas or airline tickets.
3. What's your favorite 'get to know someone new" question?
To steal from Gus on Psych, "so, did you hear about Pluto?"
4. Would you ever consider a job that required an out of country relocation?
Yes, but only if it was on a tropical island.
5. What did you think you'd be as an adult when you were 8?
Veterinarian, but then I found out that I prefer physics to the squishy parts of science.
6. Now, what's your dream job?
Pretty much what I am doing now, that or a fishing guide on a tropical island.
7. How long does it take you to get to work?
Less than 5 minutes, my shortest drive as a teacher ever. Longest was closer to 40 minutes each way.
8. What was your proudest moment thus far?
Too many to list that involve my son, every day he does something great.
9. What's your favorite thing to cook?
Most things on the grill or pulled pork in a slow cooker.
10. Android or iOS?
Was iOS only for the last 5 years or so but I am giving Android a try, I like the look and feel of iOS but love the widgets and customization in Android.
11. What's the last thing you said out loud?
What questions do you have? (just left a classroom where I was helping students with a project)
Now for the next part, I have to nominate 11 (we will see how many) people to continue this. They have to acknowledge the person who nominated them, write 11 random facts about themselves, answer the 11 questions provided and then send it on to 11 more people. Since I am not feeling that creative today, I am just going to push the 11 questions I got forward. Also, most of the people that I know who blog have already done this so I am just going to send this out to whoever wants to do it. Might not be a bad way to start blogging.
Joy of Learning - My Raspberry Pi Journey part 2
First, let me say that I was pleasantly surprised at the number of views that my previous post received. Most of my other posts have under 100 views but this last one had over 1500 views. Hopefully my ideas and thoughts are helpful to others, that is why I am trying to blog in the first place.
I have had a couple of weeks to play with and do research about my Raspberry Pi. I have tried installing different programs and systems onto SD cards to use with the Pi. I had success with the emulator program using some open source files but ran into issues that required a powered usb hub. I also had many times where I wanted to stop my current activity and try something new. I am still interested in creating an internet controlled garage door opener that includes a camera so I can see if my garage is open or not. I also ran into problems when other pieces of hardware were needed that I did not have. For some reason I no longer owned a usb keyboard, apparently I have gone wireless as much as possible over the years. I also got distracted by other things like spending time with my family and trying to stay warm in this bitter cold.
While I wait for some parts to come in so that I can try some further things which hopefully I will detail what I have done, it is nice to reflect again on how this relates to the learning process that we strive to have in our classrooms. I ran into failure points but I did not let that stop me. I created some successes but they were not the end points but just points along the path. I learned from others using digital tools like Twitter and YouTube. I enjoyed the learning and am still excited for the next stage.
Isn't this what we want to see in our classroom? Will what I learned stick with me a lot longer than just if I read about it or listened to someone else talk about it? At any point did I need a worksheet to help me learn? What if I got graded on this at various points, like when I ran into failure but eventually found my way to success?
More ideas, thoughts and results are yet to come but I hope that what I have written so far helps create discussions about what is happening in our classrooms.
I have had a couple of weeks to play with and do research about my Raspberry Pi. I have tried installing different programs and systems onto SD cards to use with the Pi. I had success with the emulator program using some open source files but ran into issues that required a powered usb hub. I also had many times where I wanted to stop my current activity and try something new. I am still interested in creating an internet controlled garage door opener that includes a camera so I can see if my garage is open or not. I also ran into problems when other pieces of hardware were needed that I did not have. For some reason I no longer owned a usb keyboard, apparently I have gone wireless as much as possible over the years. I also got distracted by other things like spending time with my family and trying to stay warm in this bitter cold.
While I wait for some parts to come in so that I can try some further things which hopefully I will detail what I have done, it is nice to reflect again on how this relates to the learning process that we strive to have in our classrooms. I ran into failure points but I did not let that stop me. I created some successes but they were not the end points but just points along the path. I learned from others using digital tools like Twitter and YouTube. I enjoyed the learning and am still excited for the next stage.
Isn't this what we want to see in our classroom? Will what I learned stick with me a lot longer than just if I read about it or listened to someone else talk about it? At any point did I need a worksheet to help me learn? What if I got graded on this at various points, like when I ran into failure but eventually found my way to success?
More ideas, thoughts and results are yet to come but I hope that what I have written so far helps create discussions about what is happening in our classrooms.
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