Digital Access

Digital access is a foundation, a prerequisite for digital literacy. I was challeneged by the web site's definition: full electronic participation in society. I must confess that I've never framed the debate over the "haves" vs. "have nots" of technology access quite that way before. I've taught urban kids my entire career, so the fight to help them acquire the tools they need to succeed has always been part of who I am. However, to think of limited-access individuals and groups as unable to fully participate in society was a new worldview lens for me. The more I ponder it, in the context of our 21st-century global world, the more I believe it fits.

“Digital Access” means different things to different people:

-internet availability of any kind

-broadband or other high-speed access

-hardware

-software

-training/education to use key programs

Schools, businesses, families, socio-economic groups, ethnic groups, rural areas, and individuals can all suffer from digital access limitations. If people or groups are cut off from information, communication, and business opportunities, then they are unable to achieve full electronic participation in society.

There are numerous studies and articles that demonstrate the reality and depth of this problem, and the effects it has on individuals and groups. There’s even a Digiteen project on it. It's not only an American issue, either. Many groups worldwide are raising awareness of this issue and tackling it head-on in creative ways.

In Asia, the Digital Divide Institute is working to provide “meaningful broadband” to “the next two billion” people, with a wide variety of projects, from the installation of large wireless networks to tablet distribution for school children.

**I love this one because it's a huge organization that takes each project and asks the community what they need to achieve digital access. Each solution has a global stamp, but is fitted to the local people's desires and needs.

In Central and South America, there's the Center for Digital Inclusion. The CDI is a network of 753 regional community centers throughout Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay. They provide technology access and training to impoverished communities.

**My favorite thing about this one is that it started as a small, local initiative, but blossomed and spread across geographic boundaries to meet needs of the poor in each nation.

In the U.S., many heavy hitters are giving funds and creating programs to close the digital divide. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for instance, channels their grants primarily through urban schools and community centers. Our school has part of a Gates grant through Street School Network, one of our accreditation agencies.

**I love how the organization doesn't just throw money at a problem, but seeks to understand it in the bigger context of the community and seeks long-term solutions. That said, the most effective programs are still local initiatives that see a need and meet it.

The Technology Access Foundation is based in Puget Sound, and uses funds donated from individuals and an alliance of area businesses to strengthen STEM education in schools, online, and through community partners. Their programs now reach thousands.

Even larger is the Digital Access Project. This began as an 18-month initiative to bring free wireless to Minneapolis through the Digital Access + Equity Campaign. When they realized the scope of need was broader than just free wireless, the Community Technology Empowerment Project was born. This program now recruits, trains, and pays AmeriCorps volunteers to equip and train citizens at centers in the Twin Cities, focusing on new immigrants and low-income areas. What began as a response to a specific hardware and service need is now an onging regional program, all because some local business and education leaders took the initiative. (Minneapolis did get the free wireless, too!)

**Probably my favorite thing about DAP is that they now sponsor the Technology Literacy Collaborative, to share their experience and support similar efforts in other geographic areas.


Electronic participation is now an integral part of being a global citizen. The debate is no longer whether people need computers; it's what kind, what speed, and what access is needed. In order to adequately assess those needs, it is imperative that community groups work with local governments and businesses to make a plan and advocate for resources. The funding sources may be multi-national, or they may be the coffee shop and grocer down the street. You never know who will step up until the need is presented. We need brave, global thinkers who live next door, not just those in government. As Margaret Mead said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, commited citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

Digital Literacy

Of the 9 categories of technology use, digital literacy jumped out as a no-brainer topic for a teacher geek like me. I like the website's definition: the process of teaching and learning about technology and the use of technology.

I. Some of the biggest issues are:

-when to teach skills (scheduling & time)
-how to teach skills (methodology)
-unlearning bad habits & solidifying good ones (time & repetition)
-students who have (or at least THINK they have) better skills than the teachers (teacher training)
-which programs and skills are most important to teach (an ever-evolving list)
-teaching information literacy, not just applications (research and critical thinking)
-acquiring adequate hardware and sofware (funding and upgrading)

II. As I searched for solutions, I found many great lists, blogs, and sites to read. Two of my favorite are:

A. Common Sense Media works to educate parents and students about positive, wise media use. Here are just a few of their blog and video titles: 7 Rules for Online Ettiquette, Teaching Kids Online Manners, and Beyond Internet Safety: Moving from Fear to Education.

B. The GoodWork Project from Harvard is performing and compiling studies, interviews, and other research into positive uses of technology among different age groups and sponsors projects with the goal of multiplying such positive applications. The two largest are “Developing Minds & Digital Media” and “The GoodPlay Project.”

III. These sites, which are wonderful, led me to a bigger problem: these resources are great for adults, but kids don't want to read and research to learn. They want to DO and Experience. Thankfully, there are many organizations and individuals working on interactive digital learning:

A. By far the coolest I found is the Digiteen Project (from the creators of the Flat Classroom). First, several classrooms around the world are connected by the project coordinators to do research and resource collaboration around a current digital issue. Then, they collaborate to publish their findings, primarily through wikis. Then, each classroom performs and documents training in their own schools to share what they've learned. It's an excellent model of students teaching each other, while growing the collaboration and digital skills they'll need in the workplace and in life.

B. In addition to such large-scale initiatives, there are thousands (maybe millions) of individuals and schools working to train kids to be better digital producers and consumers. One of the best I found is Marianne Malmstrom, a middle school teacher from New Jersey. Her simple but powerful site Knowclue seeks to share the projects she has her students do in regards to digital learning, provide resources for students, teachers, and parents, and to share the experiences of her “second life” as a digital learner.


IV. Conclusions
A. There are no one-size-fits-all solutions to digital literacy; that's the problem. The best training comes from teachers who are passionate and equipped to teach THEIR kids in THEIR school, meeting THEIR needs.

B. Students learn best when they're doing something real. One major challenge we educators must overcome is making our projects applicable not only to our content, but also to big ideas, questions, and problems that engage our students. The good thing is that online publishing for a real audience has never been easier, and the tools to do it are, by nature, engaging to our digital natives.

C. To solve the "what" to teach, we educators must be good researchers and listeners. What are area businesses saying? What is the global marketplace demanding? What do our kids lack? Though there's much diversity, there are core competencies that all students must master. Come to think of it, the 9 categories of technology use would be a good place to start.

MI Online Learning Requirement

The Online Learning Requirement is something that we all LOVE when someone else is managing it! This is a regular topic of discussion in our building, and we do have an official plan, but here's the gist of what's actually happening:

Front line = Tech Apps class, which is required for 1 semester of 9th grade (or for any transfers that don't have a tech credit). This class is teacher-led, but students retrieve and submit all materials on his Moodle page. It more than meets the state's time requirement, and it's gotten better each of the 3 years he's taught it, but feedback and experience with the upperclassmen tell us that it's not enough to build online learning competence.

Everything else is teacher-driven:
+Our senior Theology teacher has a blog requirement.
+Several different classes use Webquests.
+We use Google Docs, so an electronic portfolio is an option.
+All high schoolers participate in regularly-scheduled Career Cruising portfolio building.
+Every grade level from 2nd on up as at least one required research project, and online source evaluation is built into each.

So, we're doing quite a bit, but not in a very coordinated manner. My favorite idea (if I can ever take the time to really get it off the ground) is a hybrid Civics class. Mark Raffler has the shell of a Moodle course, and we keep dreaming and talking about its development. So far, one lesson is complete, and it's really cool! I need to make this a priority this year, because I believe Civics would be the perfect course for a hybrid. Theoretically, we can automate a lot of the boring content stuff to be more interactive with digital bells and whistles, and then weave in the simulations that I love to teach, like mock election. It seems to be the perfect core course to play with. Now, just finding the time to DO it.

SIS Compare and Contrast

So . . . STI's Information NOW and Pearson's Powerschool were the two options left on the table in late June, 2010. Our school, PK-12 plus Advancement, Business Office, and Administration, were all making the leap together to a significant SIS upgrade. Both programs offered the following services, to name a few:

Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Admissions Management
Alumni Management
Assessment Management
Attendance Management
Class Scheduling
Donor Management
Enrollment Management
Gradebook
Parent & Student Portal Interfaces
Reporting
Student Database

Powerschool offered more customization options (which appealed to me and other techie staff), as well as a VERY cool calendar option. InfoNOW, however, had a big lead in the data transfer (importing and exporting) because we were already using their older system. This, in the end, was the tipping point.

As I researched these two programs more, security was a very interesting side I had not considered. STI's site was very specific, listing fields that can be made read-only or hidden, various security levels, usage permission only for the students you impact, and strict administration/permission controls. Pearson's site mentioned different levels of access, but was much more clear on the privacy end. Their website has a built-in privacy policy that is a link on every page. The language here was very similar to FERPA, except that it allows release of some info. to affiliates and promises “commercially reasonable care.” In other words, their privacy rules aren't as stringent as schools'. As to how to get access, both of these programs (and the others I've found) are fee-based. The district pays a fee (usually per-student, not per-user) and then the company gives them the power to set up user accounts.

So, all in all, STI was a good choice for our school. It's used for all of the tasks listed above, but the daily jobs I use most focus on tracking attendance and grades. The nicest part of using the same system for everyone is that I can go back and look at previous years' grades and attendance for students I teach. I can also see their standardized test scores without having to go dig up their cums. For 2011-2012, these records will only be one year deep (we opted not to hand-enter all of the old records). However, as we use the system longer, this will help us to see trends for individual students and for groups/classes, right alongside their current grades and attendance. That part is very exciting, and will ultimately be well worth the year of frustrations in getting to know and manage this new system.

Student Information Systems (SIS)

I chose SIS, with gritted teeth, because it's the only one of the three options that I use with regularity at The Potter's House. We have done some discussion and experimentation with data warehousing and learning management systems, but I wrestle with our SIS every day of the school year, and often lose. I wanted to learn more and hopefully ease my latent frustration. The research helped, as I learned more about our system and its competition.

My teeth were gritted because last summer we upgraded to a VERY different version of our SIS, InformationNOW from Software Technology, Inc. (STI). We've used STI products since before I joined the staff seven years ago, but 2010-2011 was THE upgrade. We went to a fully web-based, fully interactive system that includes parent and student portals. The basic programs are fine, but all of the bells and whistles we were promised with this upgrade were far more trouble than they were worth. In addition, at the end of first quarter we LOST all of the grades that had been inputted, right before report cards (of course) and had to do some MAJOR clean-up after STI restored the day-old backup. In short, our SIS did NOT make my life easier, though things did go more smoothly as the year progressed.

As I looked into the different SIS available to me, my favorite site quickly became Capterra.com, which is a software warehouse with over 300 SIS options. I love it because there's a filter with a range of different options to check, from how many students you're serving to whether you want to integrate donors to where you're located geographically. As I played with it, I was able to whittle the huge list down to just a few choices that would meet our school's needs. That was a very cool option!

Just to be spiteful, I decided to compare and contrast Information NOW with Powerschool, a Pearson product. It's spiteful because I was on the committee that researched and voted on last year's upgrade, and I voted for Powerschool over our current program. I was out voted, mostly because the transition would be easier with an upgrade rather than a complete change. Too bad the transition people weren't the ones who had to re-input their grades . . . Clearly I'm still a little bitter. To view my hopefully-honest comparison, read my next post.

Critical Evaluation of Websites

Octopi in trees? DHMO, the mystery chemical? Rennets are little rodents chopped up and put in cheese? These articles cracked me up, but the thought behind them is sobering: this is the material that so many of our kids take at face value. This is the content that they'll use in their research papers if we don't teach them how to think and evaluate material critically.

We, as educators, MUST get this one right. We must teach students, from the very youngest to the very oldest, to think critically about the media they consume, especially websites. If they cannot do this, I shudder to think about the future of our nation. This may seem melodramatic, but I honestly believe that critical media consumption is THAT important.

I've always had students evaluate sites and then submit the evaluations to me before using them for research, but this super-specific form is SO much better than what I do! It looks at everything about a site, from the URL tag (generally we guide kids away from .com) to the images to the author and the text layout. Most importantly, it drives students to complete several authenticating/comparison searches to validate the info. This is key, and not difficult to do.

By performing a few simple background searches, students can rule out bogus info. quickly and find reinforcement for good sites. If we can get them to do this up front, while in the information gathering stage, they'll be lightyears ahead when they get to actually researching. Not only will they have ruled out a number of unnecessary sites, but they will find more keywords for better searches, and they'll build their background knowledge to boot. Initially, most students are resistant to this, but if you can tell them a few good stories (or get testimonies from their peers) about students who've fallen prey to bad information, their motivation will increase.

Unfortunately, an open Google search is the default for most kids. They think all information is equal, and they just enter their topic and start clicking, from the top of the list downward, and usually printing before even skimming the text. In short, they let Google do the thinking for them. Don't get me wrong; I love Google, but there are SO many great tools and other options that they don't even know about! If we can convince them that using Google Scholar, specific, varied keywords, and advanced searches will actually SAVE them time, then we'll have won at least one battle.

As to the whole critical thinking and critical media use war, we have to take it in project- and paper-sized steps. Ideally, each building (and ideally each district) needs a scope and sequence for teaching ever-increasing levels of critical media skills. These can SO easily be built into the curriculum as we integrate reading and research across the curriculum. This is one of those places where we need to work smarter, not harder. By combining search and thinking skills into our pet projects, we'll end up with better assessments and better thinkers, all in one!

RSS Feeds and Alerts

WOW -- I've been looking for a web management tool like this one. I've heard the phrase "RSS" in passing at a few workshops, but never knew what it does. I love it for several reasons:

1) The information comes to me, instead of me going out to find it.

2) I can scan a lot of info in a short time.

3) I can keep up (at least a little) with movement on topics that are of interest and/or necessity for me.

4) I can feel informed and smart, not lost and dumb. ; )

5) This helps keep me "in the loop" with updated info, especially research, which is often hard to find and even harder to sort through.


I'm not quite as impressed with the alerts. The few I chose are pulling a lot of info that's not pertinent to what I'm looking at. It would be nice if it had an advanced option that would focus the search more. For instance, there's more than one Potter's House School in the nation, so it would be nice to be able to specify Grand Rapids only.

Despite that, I'm enjoying playing with these new tools. The RSS video is right -- it's addicting to have so much info at my fingertips. For my classroom, I anticipate most using this to find current events articles related to History topics I'm teaching. For myself, I plan to focus on articles about Common Core and competency-based teaching, which are key goals for me this year. Finally, with colleagues, I anticipate sharing the tool so that they can play with it, and I know I'll find powerful articles to discuss. Thank you, RSS!

What Works and What Doesn't

Purposeful teacher-student interaction around learning is the key. Every experienced educator and parent "feels" that this is true; the studies back it up. Here are the main topics that impressed me from exploring the Hattie and IES materials about what works in education:

1) Feedback is HUGE, but most effective when it comes FROM the student TO the teacher. This is what we usually refer to as "formative assessment," and everything I've seen this last year keeps drawing me this direction. I've got to find ways to reduce the amount of time that I spend grading papers, and increase my efforts in conferencing, exit slips, and studying classroom-wide vs. individualized trends. I'm not good at turning around assignments, getting them grading and back into students' hands, so I'm going to have to re-think at least some of my assessments. Again, smaller, more manageable chunks are going to emerge.

2) “30% of what makes a difference is in the hands of teachers.” Instructional quality DOES matter! I complain a LOT about the factors I can't control in my students' lives; I have to take responsibility for what I CAN control. Mainly, that's about using every minute of every class period wisely.

3) Direct instruction is not the anathema that many make it out to be, but HOW I carry it out does matter. As a high school teacher, I carry the "they have to be ready for a college classroom" burden. As such, lecture must be part of my instruction. However, just getting up there and talking about World War II isn't true direct instruction. Modeling, checking for understanding, and gradual release are all part of doing it successfully. Sounds like Madeline Hunter wasn't so off the mark . . .

4) Finally, programs can be effective, but it's the student-teacher interaction that makes them work. I've experienced both Reading Recovery and Corrective Reading in my career. The research shows the first to be highly successful and the latter, not so much. In my opinion, the key is student buy-in. Reading Recovery is highly personalized and focused on small-group and often one-on-one lessons. Corrective Reading is highly prescriptive, usually taught in a larger group. Here again, teacher and student collaborating over the material and having meaningful discussions brings results. We must know our kids and allow them to SHOW what they know in meaningful ways that give them ownership of their learning.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

"Begin with the end in mind." So often, in the classroom and in the rest of our lives, we don't do this. What sounds like fun today? What will make the students tune in? What will make ME enjoy the topic? As an experienced teacher, I've done the background work, trudging through the standards and making sure all of my lessons connect to them, and using "backwards design" to be sure that the lessons build up to and support the assessments. However, in most cases, that was a WHILE ago. It's time for a curriculum refresher, and UDL is one component I'll use.

As the Common Core began making its way through our state (and into my building), I have to confess that my first thought was, "Will I have to get rid of any of my favorite lessons/topics?" I LOVE my 1920s stock market simulation in U.S. History; I wait expectantly for Romeo and Juliet to roll around in English 9; I dread teaching the Electoral College in Civics, but always find the students' questions engaging once they "get" it. How will "new" standards change all of this? Far more practically, how much time will it take me to re-build each of my core classes?

UDL will give me a structure to facilitate the changes that are coming, and I am confident that even my favorite lessons will be more approachable and more meaningful when this process is done. I think the most appealing quote from the reading and videos is that we need to "reduce the disabilities in the curriculum itself, so that fewer kids will be labeled as disabled, and more will be successful." WOW -- that was NOT written by a textbook publisher! I love the view of our educational "stuff" as disabled; few teachers would disagree. Creating more interactive, flexible media with excellent content is an art form that is coming along, but has not yet reached a sustainable, affordable level.

I think UDL's Book Builder is going to help this. I've been playing with it a little, and am seeing the potential of the online, interactive style. This one bears watching. Textbook companies are getting the clue that their competition is gaining strength, and today's school books are much more visually appealing and have more bells and whistles (especially web and smart board connections) than their predecessors. However, purchasing new texts for an entire building, let alone a whole district, is cost-prohibitive. I wonder how much more life traditional textbooks have.

Aside from the disabled curriculum, I have to look at my own disabled methods. As a high school teacher, when I'm tired and busy, lecture becomes my default. I know the content well, and I love to talk, so this isn't hard. Yes, I pause to ask good questions and have discussions. Yes, I put notes on the board/overhead/projector. Yes, I use visual aides. Yes, I have an engaging presentation style. However, lecturing does not allow students to engage the material at a level necessary for deep understanding, and it does not give them ownership of learning. I'm the one doing all the work and most of the thinking. This is the main thing that has to change in my classroom.

The biggest problem here is that I don't always start by thinking of UDL's "multiple means" rules. Yes, within my several-week unit, I hit all of the learning styles, and I often provide choices within my assessments. However, UDL's principles, combined with the Capturing Kids' Hearts training our staff attended in June, is revising my thinking on how to handle each class period. Part of making every kid successful is setting a small, achievable goal for EACH class period; something they can walk out and "know" or "understand" or "do." I need to make my building blocks smaller, and be sure that every student can approach, be engaged by, and then act on each part.

This is best done by, as one UDL video put it, "translating standards into things that are important to do." I love the Book Builder text called Making History: A Guided Exploration of Historical Inquiry. This is a perfect example of an important learning process, broken up into approachable steps. It's a model for what I'm going to try to do: find the ending target and then break down the "chunks" into incrementally smaller pieces, one class and one learner at a time.

Google Docs

We've been using Google Docs at The Potter's House for the last 2 years. Our school e-mail now goes through Gmail, so Google Docs is at my fingertips and my entire address book is available for collaboration in a click. Here are the things I LOVE about it:

-Instant collaboration: Kids (and staff) can work in real time on group projects without having to get together. This is especially handy for my younger students who don't drive (and for my middle-school-aged son, as well).

-Access to past versions of documents: If they go one direction with a presentation and then decide to change their minds, they don't have to start over from scratch. Also, if one group member changes something or "accidentally" deletes someone else's contribution, it can be rescued and returned to the original version easily.

-Access from anywhere: No more "It's on my other flash drive," "My flash drive is in my room at home," or "I SWEAR I saved it on the server!" Far fewer excuses, plus my kids who have to use the computer at the library, at their aunt's house, or after school in the lab can get to everything from one place.

-Automatic saving every 30 seconds: Almost no one loses anything when their computer (or the school server) crashes. They can also still access their documents, even if their laptop or home computer got a virus.

-As the video overview said, no more attachment blizzards!

There are a few frustrating things, as well:

-Formatting documents with anything beyond basic paragraphs (especially columns) is very difficult. This is slowly improving, but has a long way to go.

-The view on your screen isn't necessarily what you get when you print. You have to flip back and forth to "print preview" regularly, because it downloads to a pdf before printing.

-If Google is experiencing peak traffic, it can be very slow.


All in all, I love Google Docs for basic presentations, documents, and spreadsheets. I also LOVE that Google understands the need to convert to and from other formats, and you can upload and move between document types very easily. It doesn't default to some annoying proprietary format that takes 10 steps to move into Word.

As to Word (and the other Office products), I still prefer working with them and then uploading the document to Google Docs for easy transport and sharing. Or, I'll create the basic document on Google Docs and then download it to the appropriate Office product for final formatting and printing.

I don't think the cloud programs are ready to replace Office yet, but they are FREE, which is a HUGE bonus, especially for schools. They're all that most young students need, and when my high schoolers want to do some of the fancier formatting, they can use Open Office (which is nearly as good as its Microsoft namesake). I predict that Google Docs and other cloud programs will increasingly bite into Microsoft's products. I notice that Microsoft has created an online document viewer/editor with hotmail, so they're dipping their toes into the cloud computing water, too.

It will be interesting to see how schools respond to this new wave. Our tech director saw this coming and set us up 2 years ago. He says it's Harvard's system, too. Also, last week I attended a GRCC fall orientation session with one of our alumni, and their system is entirely Gmail and Google Docs. They sang its praises, and I generally do, too. Here are some ways I use it (or can see it used) with students:

-I can get on a document with a struggling students and begin a sentence or paragraph for them, to get them over the "I have nothing to write about" hump.

-I can create and share a document with errors, and they can go in and edit it for me, each student choosing a different color. It makes grammar and proofreading practice much more fun.
**Not my original idea -- borrowed from a colleague.

-We're moving to editing rough drafts online. Particularly for our research papers, the students write rough drafts and then I put in corrections electronically. Google Docs has an option to highlight a word or section and then insert a comment bubble. The student can then go in and make the correction, and then I delete my comment when I see they've done it. LOVE it!

-Collaboration, collaboration, collaboration! This is far and away the best use, and the sky is the limit. Kids teach each other (and staff do, too). I'm told it tracks how many minutes each student is logged on, as well (and logs them out after some down time), so the teacher can see who contributed how much to the group's final product. I haven't actually tried to use that feature yet, but one of my friends swears by it.

So -- give Google Docs a shot. It solves a number of document problems, it's free, and it functions very much like the Office products we all know and love. Wade into the cloud computing waters -- you'll find them warm and inviting.

Instructional Leadership

WOW -- I continue to be overwhelmed by the quantity of excellent teaching resources available for free on the web. Teachers are not only good thieves, but also generous givers! My Delicious account got a workout tonight, with 10 more excellent sites bookmarked, tagged, and saved. Here are the top 5 I'm going to work with soon, mostly as I re-write my English 9 course to fit competency-based learning:

MDE's Common Core page will keep you up to date on the transition from the GLCEs and HSCEs to nationwide Common Core.

Tools for Educators is a create-your-own paradise! From worksheets and crosswords to dice and bingo cards, you can make and print all the manipulatives you could ever want.

Rubistar helps teachers create their own rubrics for ANYTHING! It gives you baseline ideas for assigning and assessing posters, brochures, oral presentations, research projects, and a whole lot more! I would have LOVED something like this as a new teacher; what a resource!

Grant Wrangler and Donors Choose are grant databases specifically for educators. I'm going to look for someone to fund our juniors' 3-day mock legislature, led by Student Statesmanship Institute. If we can get it underwritten, then we can use the student activities fund for additional enrichment activities!


What instructional sources do you love? Please reply and share!

Staying Organized Online

"12 Joys of Teaching in the Digital Age"
--Hum to final verse of "The 12 Days of Christmas"

On the 12th day of school, my teaching brought to me:
12(000) professional websites
11 colleagues' blogs
10 online gradebooks
9 months of tech plans
8 state tests to research
7 periods to teach
6(00) Facebook friends
5 days per week
4 contact numbers
3 MAP computer tests
2 different e-mails
and a web page I built, but never update.

This is meant to be funny, but the slightly ironic/sad part is that each of these numbers is actually true (several underestimated)! How can I possibly complete what I HAVE to do, and still try to keep up, even a little, with the best tech tools and websites out there? Though this will always be a problem, one online organizing tool that was just presented to me is already becoming be a favorite: www.delicious.com.

Most of my work is (or can be) done online these days. Google Calendar, Google Docs, and our online gradebook are some of my favorite tools, because I can access them from any computer, server, or handheld device (not that I'm cool enough to actually own one of those). However, said gradebook has a URL that's a mile long. How am I going to remember it? Where can I store it? Do I really have to hand-enter it every time I'm on a different computer? I took one step by e-mailing it to myself, but my inbox is messy enough. I have to log into my e-mail, and scroll back 2 pages just to begin finding the e-mail to get to the site. Clearly, I need help.

Delicious solves that problem for me. It's online storage for bookmarks, and they can be tagged, sorted, categorized, etc., in a thousand different ways. I LOVE it already! E-mail accounts, professinal organizations, state testing, ACT, our gradebook, and the website for this blog are just a few of the URLs I already have saved and tagged. Try it -- make at least one part of your life a little simpler.

Personal Learning Network (PLN)

The development of a PLN is going to be an ever-expanding process. Each good site leads me to SO many others. I'm going to have to be selective about choosing which ones to join, or my inbox is going to be flooded with so many update e-mails that I'll never have a chance to really follow anything. Thankfully, I'm learning about Delicious, a bookmark organization site. More on that in the next post.

One of my favorite professional sites is MASSP, which provides some built-in sort functions. Another is the basic MDE site, which has many updates on key issues and necessary regular info. Finally, since I teach high school, the ACT website is a huge necessity.

Vision

If I ran our school system . . . WOW – what a HUGE thought! I really don’t want to run anything more than my classroom. Most days, that’s more than enough. However, my personal vision for every school is based on resources. When we hear this educational buzzword, we mostly think of the “stuff” of teaching, from computers, projectors, and smart boards to buildings and funding. Yes, those are necessary and in far too short supply in most districts. However, far more important, from my viewpoint, is the human resources that we all need to succeed.

First and foremost comes the students themselves, the one resource we adults so vastly underestimate. The further I go in my career, the more I realize the depth and breadth of abilities and experiences that each student brings to their own learning. When empowered and coached, most students have more than enough capacity to succeed. We need to start and end educational planning with them. As frustrating and time-consuming as it can be, students need to own their learning. Project-based and competency-based systems seem to do this best. Once a sound, skills- and standartds-focused structure is established, students have more choice, more freedom, and more ownership than in traditional teacher-directed platforms. Classrooms become learning labs, where trial and error lead to adaptation and growth. I prefer block scheduling with this model, because it allows time for collaboration and experimentation, with teacher modeling and coaching built in. Homework then takes the form of real-world deadlines to master the process and create an end product that displays the learning. Will every student succeed? I’d love to think so, but reality says that there will always be a few who choose not to dig into their own resources, but rather feed on excuses and past hurts. This model gives more students the opportunity to succeed, learning to recognize, value, and trust their internal resources while being supported by key adults and adaptable tools.

The most successful students have deep people resources. Key adults can be parents, teachers, staff, community members, mentors, and a host of others. Teachers are certainly the most visible resource. Our teachers need to be skilled in their content, but even more skilled in building relationships. They first must establish a community where it’s OK to try and fail. If you haven’t been to “Capturing Kids’ Hearts,” I HIGHLY recommend that training. It provides invaluable tools to foster trust, connectedness, and student empowerment. Second, teachers need to be coaches, not unapproachable experts. We need to guide students in vision and goal setting, and then provide the support to get there. If the learning we offer is meaningful and “real,” the majority of students WILL engage. Teachers also need to embrace the other adults in kids’ lives (and connect them to many more). So often, I am threatened when a student goes to someone else for help. Why is that? Am I really the only authoritative voice on the Vietnam War? We need to help students see the many other people in their lives who can contribute to their growth by requiring/directing outside influences on projects. This can be as simple as having your Math team partner teach the computation side of the Physics equation you’re teaching or as complex as matching students up with community partners for interviews, job shadowing, and internships. Teaching students this interdependence, that none of us has all the answers (but that we CAN find them) is key.

In all of this, technology can be used to maximize student engagement and enhance their skill sets. First, students need access to some sort of computer every hour of every day. Most teachers are chained to our laptops, but wish to limit the “distraction” of computers in our classrooms. I am NOT an expert in this, and I don’t wish to diminish the very real struggles that technology brings. However, we need to get over ourselves and realize that it’s here to stay. One of the top skills we can teach is appropriate technology use, from the where and when to the how and the what. If teaching students to self-manage is the key to traditional classroom success, adding technology to the mix only magnifies this need. Again, it’s time-consuming and frustrating at times, but a well-thought-out, consistently-implemented/enforced tech policy will benefit EVERY classroom in your system. Do you have an LCD projector? Have the kids run it, and teach them about font size, appropriate places to find images, and laws about copyright. Are you using the lab for research? Give them a webquest to find basic sources and experiment with citation-builder sites before they ever start their papers. Does each student have a laptop in his or her hands? Train them, from day one, that access is a privilege that bears responsibility. As soon as you confiscate one that was being misused and keep it for two days, many of the others will shape up. Better yet, give clear instructions on an engaging task before they ever open the laptop, preventing at least most of the misdirection from ever occurring. Finally, we must admit that, in most cases, these “digital natives” know far more than we do and are much more adaptable. We need to help them see their own tech-savvy resources, and hone those skills by integrating technology into our projects and assessments far more than we currently do. This brings the vision back around to resource #1: the learners themselves. They really are the beginning, middle, and end of the learning process; it’s our job to make them realize it.

Create Your Blog -- 3 ?s

Ok, so the creation of the blog itself was easy. Now comes the hard part: deciding what to post, when to post, and generally what it's going to look like.

What makes a good blog? As I've looked at a number of blogs, several things stand out to me. First, keep the format simple. Some have so much stuff that they hurt my eyes. Second, provide links to related blogs and articles. This is, by far, my favorite thing. I get to find resources through like-minded people, not through an often-useless open search! I have already found a HUGE number of great sites and articles on topic I love, and it took basically no time at all. Finally, be succinct. This is going to be my biggest struggle, because I've been verbose since I learned how to speak and even worse since I learned how to write. So, I'll stop answering this question now.

How could blogs enhance your existing school web presence? I've honestly never considered this question before. Our school, like most, has a lovely website. How cool would it be for teachers with classroom blogs to have links right off the teacher directory page? It would be easy for students to find when they need to read and respond, as well as great for parents to get a window into classroom learning. What a great idea!

Are blogs an easier way to self-publish? Easier than what? Blogs are definitely easier and more timely than books, and less expensive and more accessible than having an article printed in the newspaper or some magazine/journal. They're also far more editable and maleable than creating a printed book/booklet or portfolio in the classroom. All in all, it's a very adaptable, basically free forum that appeals to our "digital native" kids. I still like the option of paper from time to time, but most of my students would MUCH rather do this. Maybe they'll win me over . . . I DO prefer to type than write, anyway.

TLA TAL – Getting Started

OK -- this is a new venue for me. I set up a classroom website for a class two summers ago, but I've left it largely neglected. I've avoided blogging because I feel like I don't have the time to keep it up consistently (and I hate bloggers who do that). However, I am very excited about the potential of using this blog to connect with students. Though I love technology, I'm constantly finding myself out-paced by my high schoolers (and my middle school son) these days. Maybe this forum will be another opportunity to connect with and learn from them.

As to the course, I need a tech update! I have a lot of basic knowledge, but most of it is several years old (or more . . . ). I just don't take the time to play with the new tools and stay on top of things. I know the names of a lot of programs, but I have NO idea how to use them or, more importantly, how to make them effective classroom and learning tools. This is going to be great!