Trying new things…

When I first started teaching in 1987 there were approximately four word processing software companies vying for your business. Another teacher and I wrote a grant and replaced our typewriters with PCs. That summer we unpacked and set up computers and busily wrote curriculum for software that we weren’t entirely sure how to use. I always laugh when I hear someone complain that they didn’t “get any training” on a new piece of software. That was the way it was back in the day.

During Labor Day weekend this year, I was trying to finish up an online course. For my final project, I choose to create a wiki – something I had never done before. I had a couple questions on the details of the final project. My instructor (to his credit) was not answering my emails. I decided to go ahead with my plan and create the wiki. His eventual email back to me was:

Hi Sue! So glad to see you charging ahead! A friend of mine, a third grade teacher, has a saying: "Don't stay stuck!" You're living that ideal! ~ Kevin J. Powerful Learning Practice

So a couple weeks ago in preparation for a technology conference, my fellow presenter said he was going to use a presentation product called Prezi. He asked, “Sue are you going to make a Prezi?” I said “Sure!” Then wondered to myself – what is a Prezi?

I like trying new things. I don’t wait around for someone to train me, I love trying new software, products, websites on my own. Don’t get me wrong, I like a good class or a great presentation just as much as the next person. However, I don’t let NOT having one get in my way...I don’t like staying stuck!



My Prezi!
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Online learning possibilities…

This week I attended a workshop for a start-up group of educators called Online Leadership Learning Network (OLLN).  Our meeting was held in two different locations – one on the east side of Minneapolis and the other on the west side – with speakers coming from different parts of the metro area – all connected by Google+ Hangout.  Talk about using technology in a collaborative way!

The mission of the OLLN is to be a supportive community of colleagues sharing ideas and resources, participating in collaborative problem-solving, and developing strategies to implement online learning opportunities.  We looked at online curriculum sources, learning management systems, instructional practices for online teaching and various current initiatives in Minnesota school districts.

One of the presenters from a large school district explained that buying a new algebra book in his district would cost approximately $200,000.  Using the California model of ck12.org (which is aligned with the Khan Academy), he and three other teachers created their own textbook using free online resources.  They each wrote approximately 80-90 hours over the summer and were paid for their writing. With the students buying their own book at a cost of $5, the cost to their district was only $10,000.

One of my goals this year is to start hybrid/online learning in our district.  I have been working with our AP Physics teacher to take small steps in this direction.  She has “flipped” her classroom a bit; placing lectures online so valuable class time can be used to help students with homework and assigned problems.  Students can watch and re-watch her lectures and she can give independent and group help to those that need it.

This teacher and I will take a course this spring to develop courses in Moodle (a widely used Learning Management System).  At the meeting this week, I was introduced to MoodleShare;  a site that shares current Moodle courses.  You can download a unit and upload to your own host site.  You can search for content by key words or grade level tags.  You can put available content together and create a semester course in no time.  You can find almost anything you want to teach.  In true Will Richardson fashion…people are adding units from all over the world!

This weeks’ the journey has been interesting.  I knew there were lots of resources available for online learning.  What I didn’t know is that it was such an amazing solution to save districts money while at the same time providing students with 21st century learning experiences they are sure to encounter in their post-secondary adventures!
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The Third Decade of the 21st Century...

This week my journey took me to the third decade of the 21st century.  How you ask?  During my monthly technology team meeting one of the elementary schools in my district asked me to set up Google Apps accounts for all their students.  I organize these accounts into folders with their graduation year as the name of the folder.  It’s crazy to think that most students in the elementary grades will graduate in the third decade of the 21st century.  Today’s Kindergarten students will graduate in 2024.

It’s even scarier that we don’t know much about how this decade will look.

We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies that have not yet been invented, in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.   – Kari Fisch

All we can know about the world these students will step into is that it will have challenges and opportunities beyond what we can imagine today.  These problems and possibilities will demand creativity, critical thinking, ingenuity, problem solving and responsibility.

After hearing that and thinking about it, most people would say – what technology should we buy to try and solve that problem?  I guessing most Kindergarten students today might not be able to spell their name, but they will know how to surf the internet.  Most would Google how to spell their name.

Wrong!  It’s not about the tool.  We don’t even know what the tools will look like in the third decade of the 21st century.  Our focus needs to be on critical thinking, research, creativity and collaboration.  If we teach students now how to learn and how to problem solve, these students will be capable of doing new things – and not simply repeating what other generations have done.  I am excited to help these students enter the third decade prepared and ready to conquer the world!
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Google Band Wagon

The journey this week brought me to the Google Apps Midwest Summit in the beautiful Wisconsin Dells.  I was already riding the Google band wagon; but after two full days of training I feel like I have both arms up in the air, hair blowing in the wind, screaming at the top of my lungs riding the Google roller coaster!

I started using Google Apps in my 8th grade classroom two years ago believing that cloud computing was a future certainty.  Last summer I studied and took the six exams to become a certified Google Instructor.  I thought the conference was going to be good, but I never imagined it would be so amazing!  I really love all the free tools, applications and resources that Google offers education and the world for that matter.

I knew I would learn during the conference, I just thought that since I was already certified – how much more could there be?  Wow – was I wrong!  The Google Apps suite is growing every day.  I routinely get emails letting me know what has changed.  My certification only lasts one year – and for good reason – the applications change, update and expand daily.  There were also sessions on the new Chromebook, Google Earth, Google Search, Blogger, Picasa and Chrome just to name a few.  I have used all those tools, but certainly not to their fullest capability.  They are all powerful and work even better together as a suite of tools.

I also attended a session about a school in Iowa that has a student led technology team.  The name of their school is Clear Creek-Amana and they are known as the Creek Squad.  This group of 7th and 8th graders deploy and support Google Apps to the students and faculty of their district.  They have also trained other neighboring districts.  This is a concept I hope to implement in my district.  Right now I have an 11th grader that has taken all the computer courses our school offers.  He has literally run out of courses to take.  With the help of a guidance counselor, we arranged with one of our elementary schools for him to go there and help with technology issues.  The teachers of that school are very pleased with all the problems he has helped them solve.  Our students are a resource we should utilize more extensively.  We can all learn from them!

The final learning this week came from collaboration with other educators passionate about becoming better 21st Century Learners.  We tweeted throughout the conference.  I am now following new people.  I have added to my PLN.  The tweets were so frequent and intriguing that I often got distracted from my current session because I was interested in what others were learning in their sessions.  Google Apps documents were created so we could learn and share from the sessions we weren’t able to participate in.

As a Google executive said in one of his sessions, “it’s not about the technology it’s about the learning experience.”  This learning experience, like a roller coaster, was fast-paced, exhilarating, fun and amazing.  I can’t wait to bring this new learning experience to my colleagues and the students of my district.
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Teamwork is part of the journey…

One of my goals as Technology Integrationist is to organize and lead a team of teachers that will help personalize learning in our district.  The team is made up of 13 people from four buildings and our early childhood center.  Not thinking about educational acronyms, I started off on the wrong foot but naming the team – Technology Integration Team!  There were several teachers in our community that wanted us to have shirts printed up with our new acronym.

After overcoming that obstacle with a clever new name we have set out on our journey to embed 21st Century Skills into the curriculum we teach using technology as the vehicle. We remind ourselves often that Will Richardson told us to take what we currently teach and make adjustments to embed the skills. We shouldn’t start with the technology and then figure out what to teach.

We are a diverse group of educators.  We are new teachers and experienced teachers.  We teach Kindergarten through 12th grade.  We teach core subjects and electives.  We meet once a month to share ideas, frustrations and hang out with other teachers that are passionate about educating our students for the 21st Century.  We energize one another.  We are part of each other’s Personal Learning Network (PLN).  We tweet and encourage one another.

I am always open to the team’s suggestions.  I encourage them to share the tools and ideas they use.  I learn from them, they learn from me – we all grow in the process and the students grow in the end.  I know where I want to go on this journey, but I also know that I can’t get there without this powerful team.  There has been talk about actually making t-shirts for the team because we are proud of what we are doing, we are proud of our journey, we are proud to be making a difference in our students’ future.
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The Journey...

On June 11, 2011, I boarded an airplane for a trip I had been dreaming about for almost two decades - a journey across the world to see my sister in Australia. The trip started off quite bumpy because of a missed connection and took us more than 48 hours to arrive at the much anticipated destination. Our Australian Journey brought us to the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and 70 feet below sea level exploring the Great Barrier Reef.

This August I set out on another meaningful journey – a journey with its own hills and valleys. In addition to teaching a couple classes, I also took on the task of Technology Integrationist for my school district. My mission is not about technology for technology’s sake, but to enhance the learning experience for our students. I love the quote by John Dewey, "If we teach today's students as we did yesterday's, we are robbing them of tomorrow."  Today’s student doesn’t look like the student of yesterday. I’ve included some of the words that describe today’s student in the word cloud above – connected, creative, experimental, knowledge hungry, global citizen, collaborator, innovator – and I could go on.

In this quest to educate the 21st century student my district is going about it in the right way - the focus is on learning. Our journey is about personalizing learning for students and embedding 21st century skills into their day-to-day learning. When I meet with other people in my state that have a similar position, they are only thinking about the technology. Being passionate about technology – I get this. It’s easy to get excited about the newest and greatest tool. I just always keep in mind that a tool is only as good as the work and/or skills that it helps us produce.

At our welcome back in-service, my school district sponsored Will Richardson (@willrich45) as our keynote speaker. His presentation focused on the implementation of 21st century skills and how the learning styles of students are changing. He was the absolute right speaker at the right time for so many educators in our district. He defined learning as wanting to learn more. Students can get information from their smart devices at any given time. Most are “connected” 24-7. As teachers we need to make a shift from knowing to learning. The web is at their fingertips and we need to adjust our teaching styles to this new student.

One of Will's other big themes was that without sharing there is no education. I really agree with that theme since I have been an avid Twitter user for the past several years. In my opinion Twitter is the single greatest professional development tool on the internet. I have learned so much from the great educators that I follow. They are part of my new Professional Learning Network (PLN). In the past we have only been consumers of education and we need to be producers. My goal is to share what I learn on this journey.  I plan to write to reflect, to learn and grow both professionally and personally.

I’m excited about this journey. Like Will Richardson, I’m concerned about my own children and their education to be productive citizens in the 21st Century. The picture below of my children in Australia took many takes. Not everyone was on board at the same time. Small steps were taken and adjusted and eventually the final product worked. I expect this new journey will be similar. I expect hills and valleys, but I know that our goal is the right one and I can’t wait to enjoy the ride!

 

[caption id="attachment_56" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Gold Coast - Australia"][/caption]
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