Twitter, without a doubt, has become the social network for educators to take their professional development into their own hands. Twitter allows teachers to connect with other educators from around the world, join discussions related to their interests and have a steady stream of resources (to help them teach and learn) available to them whenever, whereever and however. Creating a network on Twitter has catapulted educators to be part of a connected world where learning happens anytime, help is only a tweet away, collaboration partners meet and communicate, conversations that directly or indirectly impact their physical lives take place 24/7.  Twitter is helping educators gain many 21st century skills and literacies which could easily transfer to their classrooms.

So the next question is…

How do you bring Twitter into your K-8 Classroom?

If your students are under the age of 13, they cannot create their own Twitter account (Minimum Age Restriction). The solution is to create a classroom twitter account and start tweeting as a class!

Take a look at the following guide I created to help you think of a few ideas to use Twitter in your classroom and how to introduce tweeting to your students:

1. What is Twitter
2. Getting Started
3. How can you use Twitter in the Classroom?
4. Twitter Etiquette
5. The First Tweet
6. What is a Quality Tweet?
7. Logistics
8. Twitter Vocabulary
9. Tweeting Classrooms

Please leave a comment below with your username if you are tweeting with your K-8 classroom. Also add other ideas on how you have successfully used Twitter as a class.

Twitter in K-8 Classroom- Globally Connected Learning

In my previous post titled Enhancement-Automating-Transforming-Informating, I described the fusion (in my mind) of the SAMR model with Alan November’s concept of Automating vs. Informating to transform teaching and learning.

Since then, my colleague Andrea Hernandez and I have set down to create a visual using the above model to include concrete examples from our school to illustrate to our teachers what tasks are considered in the substitution/augmentation/modification/redefinition stages. We want to be transparent in showing our expectations of basic tasks being led autonomously by the classroom teachers to teach and support students without the necessity of tech support to be present. At the same time, we wanted to emphasize the progression and show what transformational teaching and learning looks like.

As we were populating the chart, it became clear to me that the stages were part of a time line, a process that an individual and an entire school cultures had to go through in order to transform and leap from “preparing students for 1970s, 1980′s 1990′s to preparing them for 2020′s and beyond” (Heidi Hayes Jacobs). Once I saw the imaginary time line, I also felt that that the stages coincided with how (21st century) teaching and learning was seen. We used to see it as a:

Tools Set:

• we taught keyboarding classes
• we had classes that taught a specific version of a office program (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• we emphasized file management
• we supported teachers when they did not know which button to click for printing
• we gave instructions, such as “click in the upper left corner for the drop down menu and save”, we gave new instructions when the software package, platform or version changed
• we gave tech support to upload, download and resize images

Then we started to understand that it was never about the tools, but about the skills teachers and students would acquire when using these tools.

Skill Set:

• we blog to teach and learn about writing, communication, networking, presentation, publishing, commenting, reflection, organization and collaboration skills. Blogging is about Digital Citizenship, Media Literacy, Information Literacy and Global Awareness.
• we use wikis to understand about copyright, evaluation and analysis of Information, collective knowledge and new writing genres.
• we skype in order to expose and connect teachers and students locally and globally to peers, experts, eye witnesses. We become more fluent in networking and and information literacies, speaking, listening and presentation skills are honed.
• we teach bookmarking skills to help teachers and students cope with the exponentially increasing information available. Finding, evaluating, analyzing, tagging, categorizing, organizing, connecting and remixing of information are just some of the skills necessary for that
• we podcast (audio and video)  to allow students to express themselves and their knowledge in more than the written form. We incorporate storytelling in order to give students multimedia skills as well as expose them to visual literacy and information literacy.

Now, it seems that teaching and learning will not necessarily move from the “enhancement” to the “transformation” stage with a tool set and the necessary skills alone. In order for teaching and learning to become transformative there also needs to be a

Mind Set:

• Our world has flattened and is interconnected
• Information is just going to continue to grow exponentially
• Students of today and tomorrow learn differently than we did
• We are life long learners
• We are self-directed learners
• “How we connect with each other is how learning occurs” (Stephen Wilmarth)
• “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read or write, but the ones who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn” (Alvin Toffler)
• “Collaboration and sharing knowledge are highly prized skills” (Alan November)

Take a look at the following graphic and keep a time line in mind, as well as the stages mentioned above to move from substitution to redefinition. Does this make sense to you? What would you add?

I am constantly wrestling with the issue of using technology in schools to TEACH and to LEARN.

Long ago, I have resolved that teaching and learning DO NOT depend on technology nor are “not real”, good or effective without it (see Changing-Shifting a School Culture, Bringing in Experts.  Transformative Teaching and Learning? and It’s not about the Tools, it is about the Skills ). The best “tool” for good teaching and learning…is… a good teacher! That teacher can be a professional educator…it can be “yourself”… it can be a group of your peers… it can be a book, film, audio…(insert whatever media) or it can be… (insert whatever suits you, your learning or teaching style). What technology has done for me (it came naturally) is that it makes everything CLEARER!

Through the technology lens, I am:

• amplified… I learn amplified…I can teach amplified..not only to physical bodies that I happen to share time and space with at the moment…
• reachable… I reach and can be reached whenever I choose to
• worldwide… I am in contact with people from around the world… I disseminate, ask, receive, share, publish to a worldwide audience
• connected… to information, an audience,  a personal learning network, etc.
• collaborative…I am collaborating with educators from around the world to figure out “this thing”…how to best prepare the citizens of the future, so they can solve all the problems of the world awaiting them…
• available…I am available to others asynchronously via my online presence. Limitless information, opinions, experiences, expertize from others are available to me anytime, anywhere in whatever media and platform I prefer to learn with/through…
• exposed to multiple teaching styles… I am stretching my own teaching style by exploring and experimenting with media and platforms beyond my normal comfort zone…
• exposed to multiple learning styles… I am able to differentiate multiple learning styles by giving students choices that allow them to demonstrate their learning in multiple ways…
• networked… I am part of a network…I am not alone…a network of peers, experts, learners… a network that helps me be fluent in accomplishing tasks, solving problems, being inspired by ideas, remixing of information…

Without the lens… teaching & learning seems fuzzy… uni-dimensional…monolingual…not reaching its full potential… to me…

When I became a “Technology Integration Facilitator“,  I wanted to use and help teachers use technology in their classroom NOT as an add on, but as a way to support their teaching. As I grew in my own learning process and became a 21st Century Learning Specialist , I realized that it was not enough to integrate technology. There had to be a change (an amplification) in what learning and teaching could be in the 21st century. Technology was merely the tool, not the end in itself.

In the article Creating a New Culture of Teaching , Alan November points out the difference between AUTOMATING a task for learning (“using a $2000 pencil”) and INFORMATING teaching and learning (“think about information systems, whole systems of the flow of information and communication”).

It has been hard…I have not always been successful… in trying to help teachers see beyond the technology and the logistics of how to use it in order to TRANSFORM the way we teach and learn. There seems to be the need of keeping the change (that needs to happen) wrapped up in a “technology bow” in order to have excuses WHY the paradigm shift can’t happen. It seems easier (and more acceptable) to say “I don’t do computers” than “I don’t know how or don’t care to prepare my students for a different future than I am used to and adapt MY teaching to THEIR learning needs”…everything is fine the way it is…it has worked for the past 20 years…!

Technology integrationists, computer lab teachers or whatever the title , still seem to serve as the crutch some teachers want to/ need to lean on, instead of taking responsibility of becoming “21st Century literate“.   If classroom teachers are taking their students to the lab to “do computers”, then they can CHECK OFF the use of technology. If a 21st century coach/facilitator/specialist/resource is in a classroom to co-teach with them, then they can CHECK OFF the use of technology integration… no matter if the classroom teacher physically leaves the room, checks mentally out or grades worksheets in the back of the room…

How can we support the paradigm shift in teaching and learning if teachers and administrators are still hung up on the logistics and basics of technology use? How can integrationists, facilitators and coaches best use their time in moving forward and supporting TEACHING and LEARNING when they are asked to hold hands with AUTOMATING tasks that have been done with paper and pencils before? They are asked to :

• fix printers to print out worksheets
• upload and edit images and videos that will be forgotten on hard drives
• help students type their book reports to be displayed on the bulletin board outside classrooms
• be on call for teachers to help them when students need to take computer based tests
• supervise students with kill and drill math and vocabulary games
• bookmark Internet resources to be accessed by students
• help students with digital drawings to be printed out
• help with basic tasks like text formatting and file management

I had the pleasure of meeting and listening to Maggie Hos-McGrane at ECIS in Frankfurt, Germany last month. Her presentation The Role of ICT in the PYP was an incredible eye opener. Maggie mentioned The SAMR Model, which immediately caught my attention.

SAMR, a model designed to help educators integrate technology into teaching and learning , was developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura.  The model aims to enable teachers to design, develop, and integrate digital learning experiences that utilize technology to transform learning experiences to lead to high levels of  achievement for students.

Maggie explained how she is using the model to move teachers from substitution, where “technology acts like a direct tool substitute, with no functional change” to a redefinition, where “technology allows for the creation of new tasks, previously inconceivable”.

The SAMR model seems to perfectly align with Alan November’s Automating and Informating distinction.

Maggie and her team are deciding what skills their teachers will need to start taking on:

In the case of substitution we felt that teachers themselves should be able to lead lessons that involve simple data handling – adding information into spreadsheets to produce graphs for example. They should also be able to support students using a simple graphics programme, have students take photographs and transfer them onto the computer, use a digital microscope to view images, access the internet for research and use word processing software.

I liked the idea of the model to illustrate and formally outline for teachers the different stages. By pointing out their responsibilities in taking on the roles of leading and supporting their own students in the Enhancement/Automating stage of substitution and augmentation, the “crutch role” of the facilitator in the classroom should be diminished, limited and even eliminated. Classroom teachers take on the responsibility of these tasks. If they need help to learn the tasks for themselves, they receive training outside of the classroom without students. When teachers are ready to redesign and transform tasks (not automate) to create learning opportunities that previously  would not have been possible, the facilitator becomes the co-planner, collaborator, co-teacher, connector and coach.

I wrote previously about the issue of teachers relying on coaches/ facilitators too much in 2009 in a post titled Interested? Supported? Let’s move on to taking the Reigns.

How do we keep moving from one stage to the other? How long do we “allow” teachers to stay in one stage? How do we make sure we don’t enable teachers and get stuck? How do we increase the chances of sustainability? How do we prepare teachers so they are able to take the reins and enjoy the ride?

Almost 18 months later, I am still contemplating the issue…I have not found a solution yet… I believe  the SAMR/November model/idea can give us a roadmap.

I will be working with Andrea Hernandez on creating a customized chart with example tasks to illustrate for our teachers  what stage their “technology use” in the classroom falls under. We will formally outline what kind of responsibility we are expecting teachers will assume in leading and supporting 21st century teaching and learning through technology.

Here are a few more of Maggie’s blog posts describing how she is using the SAMR model at her school:

• The SAMR Model – From Theory to Practice
• Moving from S to R
• Moving from S to R part 2

What kind of task do you see in your own school, classroom or work that would fall under the 4 stages outlined in the model? What stages/tasks do you support directly? Which ones are classroom teachers’ responsibilities?

I have been planning with a second grade teacher to get her started in using the SmartBoard that just had been installed in her classroom.

She let me know that she was working on maps skills and wanted an activity to be able to reinforce and assess student understanding of cardinal directions.

I showed her how to add written directions of drawing an island on the SmartBoard and add certain features to the island, such as a mountain range, a river and a lake. Since we are talking about 2nd graders she suggested to add pirates, princesses, dolphins and a treasure too.

Here is the notebook file to download.

A few days ago, I ran into Screenr, a great little screencasting tool, that allows you to record an up to 5 minute screencast video, post a tweet with a link, plus the ability to embed the video later on in your blog (see below). In case you are reading this post from within a RSS reader, you might have to click yourself through to the blog in order to see the screencast clip.

Why do we so often encounter defensiveness among teachers?

Defensiveness

• about the way they have been teaching for years the same subject, the same book, the same curriculum, the same tests, the same way…
• towards someone who is willing and ready to help them plan, co-teach, model, mentor, coach…
• about “doing” computers
• when listening to the difference between computers (in general), IT, networking, Help Desk and what “educational technology” means…
• against experimenting with something new where we don’t know the outcome yet ….but isn’t that the definition of experimenting?)
• against wanting to participate..becoming involved

Defensive (adj) is defined on Dictionary.com as:

Excessively concerned with guarding against the real or imagined threat of criticism, injury to one’s ego, or exposure of one’s shortcomings.

Mmmhh…

Is it an illusion that one can bring about the shift towards 21st century teaching & learning and integrating technology in our schools with:

• a smile
• a good attitude
• by being helpful and supportive
• “knowing your stuff”
• having a generally nice personality

That does not seem to be “enough”.

“In a person who is open to experience each stimulus is freely relayed through the nervous system, without being distorted by any process of defensiveness.”
Carl Rogers

We are not the only ones asking ourselves these questions:

Why are teachers so defensive and what can we do about it?

Steven McLeod on Dangerously Irrelevant blogged “What they say vs What they hear“:

Educators’ reflexive defensiveness is a fact of life in most school organizations and is a challenge for leaders who are trying to move their schools in new directions.

He quotes Sue King who blogged on Leader Talk. Her “I said…they heard” rings so familiar:

I have said, “We must be explicit about what we want students to know, understand and be able to do.”

What some heard was, “You are not doing a good job.”

I have said, “We will be more effective [if] we collaborate and work together to figure out how to best meet the needs of our students.”

What some heard was, “You are not doing a good job.”

I have said, “The responsibilities of public education have changed; we can learn together how to be successful in this new environment.”

What some heard was, “You are not doing a good job.”

I have said, “I believe in the ability of teachers to reach and teach ALL children.”

What some heard was, “You are not doing a good job.”

” Improving the planning and teaching of Mathematics by Reflecting on Research”  by Lauren Hoffman & Daniel Brahier

…can be a worthwhile experience as teachers compare the general findings of the research with what they typically do in their own classroom. Instead of viewing the results defensively, educators have an excellent opportunity to constructively improve their teaching performance through reflection on practice.

This quote implies that defensiveness seems to be also used as a mechanism for not having to reflect and and guarding against having to implement changes and adjustments of their teaching practice if necessary.

Corey Bunje Bower asks the same question on her blog “Thoughts on Education Policy”  Why do teachers get so defensive?

Although the post tries to approach the question and answer from the general criticism towards “bad versus good teaching” and not towards the defensiveness against technology integration aspect , nonetheless it points out the extremely personal nature of teaching as one of the reasons for defensiveness.

[...]teaching is a very personal pursuit. It requires a lot of an individual. Many people who go into teaching devote more than just time and energy into their teaching — it’s more than just a job to them. [...] For many teachers, however, their job is personal. And criticism of the way they do their jobs is seen as criticism of them as people. And nobody takes kindly to that.

How can we as  “Change Agent Wannabes” work with the defensiveness of educators?

• Do we need to take them as that is just the way it is in education?
• Only work with the willing (non defensive) ones?
• Focus on breaking down the defensive wall if we ever want to really be effective and shift our schools and education?
• Focus on building trust?
• How do we encourage dialogue?
• Make sure that we have the courage and passion to address individual defensive teachers and not make a “blanket” statement, plan or decision for everyone?

Having written a few days ago about What is in a Field Trip?, it was time to put the theory to practice.

Gail Lovely ‘ s quote about “framing a field trip” resonated with me

framing the event in learning before and after – & give them something to do while there!

Our third graders go on an annual field trip that drives them around the city of Jacksonville, Florida. They learn from a tour guide on the bus about historical places, buildings and about architecture.

How to FRAME this field trip, so it does not become an isolated few hours of being outside the school building for the students?

I created a Google Earth Flight map that included all the landmarks, students would visit on their tour around Jacksonville. Each stop is marked with a Placemarker, that has a pop up balloon with further information.

Here is what I did:

Create a folder in Google Earth BEFORE you create placemarks in that folder. Right click on “My Places”, then choose “Add” and click “Folders”. Name your folder.

Then enter all stops for the tour as placemarks in Google Earth. Type the address in the “Fly to” Search box and click on the placemark icon to place it on the map.

Once you add the placemark, another window pops up and you are able to enter a title, description and an icon among other things.

I chose to make the balloons a little fancier by adding an image of the landmark or building. In order to get the image, I took a screen shot from Google Maps’ StreetView, then uploaded these images. Make sure you know the URL of each image, since you will need it for the HTML code.  When there was no street view available, I went to Flickr and did a search for the address or building (most of them historic), then contacted the owner of the image to ask permission to use it in an educational setting. Permission was granted every time.

Here is the code I used. You can tweak it with your own information:

<table width=450>

<tr><td colspan=2 bgcolor=darkblue><font size=5 color=white>Old YMCA Building</font></td></tr>

<tr><td>

<img src=”http://www.sjeds.com/projects/jax-tour/stop17.png” width=250> <br><font size=1>407 North Laura Street</font>

</td>

<td>

<!——-Do not edit above this line —————————————–>

<b>Did you Know?:</b><br>

The building had a swimming pook in the basement.

<p>

<b>Activities:</b><br>

How many meters is this building away from the Jacksonville Landing?

<!——– Do not edit below this line —————————————>

<p></td></tr></table><font color=white>

Credit to original placemark code goes to Jim Holland and Susan Anderson from Curriculum Magic. I attending one of their session at TCEA in Texas.

If you already have created your placemarks, you can edit them by right clicking on the placemark (on the map or in the “Places” list)

Each placemark has a “Did you know” tidbit information about its particular building or landmark and an “Activity” for students to do.

The curriculum integration the classroom teachers chose was for math (shapes and measurements). So activites ranged from:

• Identifying shapes
• Counting shapes
• Measuring circumference of a shape
• Measuring parking lots, roof tops, distances to other locations (in yards, feet, meters, kilometers, etc.)
• Addition

When it is time for students to explore Jacksonville virtually, they will have 3D buildings and Borders and Labels checked off on their “Layers”. Make sure to have them do this first, so they do not get distracted with too many added placemarks.

Jacksonville has several 3D buildings available in Google Earth, especially in the downtown area. Some of the activities require the students to actually zoom in and around a building in order to answer the questions.

Next Step:

Actually go on the field trip!

• Do you think students will have a different mind set when on their excursion?
• Do you think they will be more engaged and able to connect to WHAT they are seeing to WHAT they have explored in Google Earth?

Last Step:

What to do when students return from the field trip?

• Reflect
• Make further connections to content studied in the classroom
• Edit Google Earth with more activities, tidbits of information and questions for students who will do this field trip the following year

Download:

• Jacksonville Tour kmz file (will open up in Google Earth, if installed on your computer)
• Jacksonville Tour ( pdf file)
  Stops with address, Did you know? and Activities
• Framing a field trip in Google Earth How- to-Guide (pdf file)

I believe that we need to teach our students to be able to extract information from a variety of sources. They do not only need to be able to read text, but they also need to be able to:

• extract
• comprehend
• evaluate
• summarize
• re-use
• re-mix

information from other forms of media. They also need to be able to choose, use and be comfortable with a variety of tools to help them accomplish just that.

As we are continuing our journey Around the World with 80 Schools, I am delegating more and more of the documentation of our connections to students, trying to give them practice and reflection time.

Ideas how to let students work on summarizing and reflecting:

1. Oral recount of what we, as a group,  have learned during the Skype conference
2. Individually filling out of index cards with key points during skyping
3. Individuals taking digital images
4. Individuals recording video footage
5. Chrissy Hellyer in Thailand assigns her students to comment on her blog post about the connection made.

I decided to try integrate another tool after our last Skype connection with Nathan Toft’s 5th grade class from Canada. 6tgh graders were invited to a private chat room after we finished speaking with Nathan’s class.

I chose TinyChat.com as the service, because it is:

• web based
• no registration required
• private, unless you share the URL
• possibility to download chat content
• once you close it, the chat room and its content cease to exist

Before we got started, we had a short review of a previously taught internet safety lesson.

• Don’t give out personal information
• Don’t believe everything you see or hear online
• EVERYTHING you say/type/upload/ is online FOREVER, others can copy/save/forward it to ANYONE (yes, even your grandmother!)
• Understand what cyberbullying is and how to recognize and prevent it. Don’t be a bully, don’t be a victim!

I reinforced the concept that chat rooms are even a step further ahead on the scale of places that you should be extra careful with. Don’t go there alone. We advocate to our students to ALWAYS take a buddy with you (we are talking about 11 year old students). At their age, they should not even go to a random chat room. I compared it to going alone at night downtown in the spirit “Let me see who I can meet and talk to there”.

I created the chatroom, then linked it on our blog. Here were the directions before they entered our chat room:

1. Sign into the chatroom with your first name only
2. Text messaging Acronyms are ok
3. No talking, we are communicating only through the chat room
4. Summarize what we heard and learned from our Skype connection with  Canada
5. Be polite, don’t say anything you would not say in our school environment

Once you are ready to finish the chat, make sure you save your chat log. Once you close your browser window or exit out of the chat room, you will loose everything.

You have 4 choices of how to save the chat log:

Reflection of  using a chat room with students:

• Students were VERY excited about going into a chat environment. It seems that that holds some sort of fascination…. the forbidden fruit… Everyone was alert.
• They figured out quickly how to send private messages (without being shown how). BTW, the private messages are NOT included in your chat log. That could be an issue.
• Even though we repeatedly reminded students that the chat was not a social occasion, but there to collaboratively work to summarize what we learned from our Skype call, it took students a while to get the “giggles” out and focus.
• It is a skill to be able to read AND follow along in a chat window.
• It is a skill to learn to be “part” of a chat. Some students only “threw” out sentences, but did not read or respond to others
• GREAT typing practice

Here is the chat lines from students (Their names have been removed). I bolded the text that had something to do with the Skype conference. Notice how it took them a while to start focusing. This was the first time for many to be in an online chat environment. I think they did pretty well! As with any other skill, they will get better with practice.

(1:38 pm)  yo yo my name is bobby joe
(1:38 pm)  So do we summerize what we did?
(1:38 pm)  lol
(1:38 pm)  the skpe was cool
(1:38 pm)  hola
(1:38 pm) – hey…..ive typed hi like 20 times
(1:38 pm)  shh…
(1:38 pm)  Hi peeps
(1:38 pm)  shh……
(1:38 pm)  lol hi kt
(1:38 pm)  bob saget
(1:38 pm)  yo
(1:38 pm) – hahaha
(1:38 pm) – don’t feel bad i type even slower
(1:38 pm) – lol
(1:38 pm) – who
(1:38 pm) – what
(1:38 pm) – lol
(1:38 pm) – how was the skype
(1:38 pm) – when
(1:38 pm) – where
(1:38 pm)  – sweet
(1:38 pm) – this is histarical!!
(1:38 pm) - I thought the girl with the red hair was a good talker person
(1:38 pm) – and how
(1:39 pm) – when did you get your degree/
(1:39 pm) – hey katie
(1:39 pm) – i type really slow slower than all of you
(1:39 pm) – lol
(1:39 pm) – i type sooooooo slow
(1:39 pm) – i can smell mama citas cooking
(1:39 pm) - I had a feeling they’d say pizza, isn’t that what they all sail, Mrs. Tolisano?
(1:39 pm) – wat??
(1:39 pm) – lol
(1:39 pm) – lol
(1:39 pm) – lol
(1:39 pm) – i think were having baked beans
(1:39 pm) – rotf
(1:39 pm) – lol
(1:39 pm) – Cut the cheese
(1:39 pm) – so random!
(1:39 pm) – i feel really silly because i’m typing to the person right next to me
(1:39 pm) – and maybe somke burgers
(1:40 pm)- they were good speakers
(1:40 pm) – ya deffinetly
(1:40 pm) – ur right!!
(1:40 pm) – what
(1:40 pm) – how did u like the skipe ?
(1:40 pm) – how was the skype
(1:40 pm) – I liked it
(1:40 pm)  – what is the conversation
(1:40 pm) – i did too
(1:40 pm) – i think they should have been more organized
(1:40 pm) – i liked the skype….. it was really cool
(1:40 pm) – Hi
(1:40 pm) – I did to
(1:40 pm) – i wonder how big there school is?
(1:40 pm) – it was
(1:40 pm) stop saying hi
(1:40 pm) – skypaping is so fun
(1:41 pm) – probably big
(1:41 pm) – hi matt u want to talk
(1:41 pm) – did you like the canadians
(1:41 pm) – i cant believe they dont have a cafateria
(1:41 pm) – i thoguht it was weird how they didnt have a cafetria
(1:41 pm) – kt i dont think they understud you!
(1:41 pm) – well the skype cofersation took longer than we thought and they sdidnt hav a caferteia
(1:41 pm) – those canadian kids had alot to say
(1:41 pm) – i liked the trophy they got from there blog!!!!
(1:41 pm) – i know
(1:41 pm) – me to
(1:41 pm) – i know it big
(1:41 pm) – ik
(1:41 pm) – it was plastic
(1:41 pm) – didn’t they ask what we had comming up?
(1:41 pm) – I don’t like the cafateria
(1:41 pm) – and they had a video podcasrt
(1:41 pm) – it looked like it was metal
(1:41 pm) – that trophy was so great
(1:41 pm) – Podcast trophy!
(1:42 pm) – I like there school
(1:42 pm) – The tropie was for the blog
(1:42 pm) – why do u think they don’t have aa cafiteria
(1:42 pm) – i cant believe they don’t buy lunch? is the expenses 2 much?  is canadian money worth more or less than a $
(1:42 pm) – they alsoa hav a podcast and a trofie for it!!
(1:42 pm) – thats cool that they have a blog and video podcast
(1:42 pm) – We should have asked if they liked canadian bacon
(1:42 pm) – i kan talk faste
(1:42 pm) – I cant believe they half to bring their lunch every day
(1:42 pm) – i cant wait to see the blog
(1:42 pm) – I like
(1:42 pm) – My brother’s school didn’t have a cafatiria
(1:42 pm) – ya
(1:42 pm) – i wanna see there blog 2
(1:42 pm) – wow
(1:42 pm) – same
(1:42 pm) – their podcast was called “Portable Radio”
(1:42 pm) – I like shiny trophs
(1:42 pm) – i know
(1:42 pm) – i wonder if they have micdonalds
(1:42 pm) – me 2
(1:42 pm) – the trophy they got from having the best webchat in the world is really cool
(1:42 pm) – I wonder if they play any sports
(1:42 pm) – this was cool i thought they wound speak candiean
(1:43 pm) – no you don’t
(1:43 pm) – ya
(1:43 pm) – I forgot too
(1:43 pm) – I just knew it was a podcast
(1:43 pm) – i felt bad because we didnt say as much stuff about our school and they said a lot about theirs
(1:43 pm) – the trophy was won 4 the best podcaast in the world
(1:43 pm) – I wonder how good there podcast was :p
(1:43 pm) – yall type to fast
(1:43 pm) – there class was huge!!!!!
(1:43 pm) – was their class size 31??
(1:43 pm) – The podcast was pretty great
(1:43 pm) – they also interveiwd a famous dude from canada
(1:43 pm) – me too
(1:43 pm) – they had two korian kids E. and J.
(1:43 pm) – ya it was huge 32 or 31 kids
(1:44 pm) – they intviewed a 12 year old 4 making shows and only 3 kids got to meet him
(1:44 pm) – lol
(1:44 pm) – I like there podcast name very simple
(1:44 pm) – They also had a big class
(1:44 pm) – they both wore glasses
(1:44 pm) – yeah i cxant believ they have 31 people when we only have 14
(1:44 pm) – yes very big
(1:44 pm) – WOw
(1:44 pm) -  the girl
(1:44 pm) – rofl
(1:44 pm) – from korea
(1:44 pm) – I also like the teachers name
(1:44 pm) – i felt really small when they said 31
(1:44 pm) – My uncle is working in the CFL and maybe he could visit them
(1:44 pm) – thur class is mor than trise our classses size
(1:44 pm) – lol
(1:44 pm) – i know
(1:44 pm) – i wish i could see the blog
(1:44 pm) – THE TEACHERS name was nathan
(1:45 pm) – What was the teacher’s name? I forgot..
(1:45 pm) – yes daniel cook
(1:45 pm) – danniel coook
(1:45 pm) – oh
(1:45 pm) – they interveiwed daniel cook on the local radio show
(1:45 pm) – We also sould have asked if they had mouse in their backyard
(1:45 pm) -  I wonder wich Korea the 2 kids came from
(1:45 pm) – daniel cook daniel cook daniel cook
(1:45 pm) – I think Canada is a long way from florida
(1:45 pm) – oh yeah me 2
(1:45 pm) – ya
(1:45 pm) – i bet all the kids are sad that E. and J. are going back to koria
(1:45 pm) – i want 2 be on the podcast
(1:45 pm) – ya
(1:45 pm) – u think?:()
(1:45 pm) – you spelt korea ronge
(1:45 pm) – Daniel Cook is a kid from disney chanell
(1:45 pm) – wrong
(1:46 pm) – yeah 3 kids interveiwed cook, right?
(1:46 pm) – it looked like they attacked J…..or was it E.
(1:46 pm) – what
(1:46 pm) – we should make a podcast
(1:46 pm) – probley
(1:46 pm) – ya
(1:46 pm) – yeah
(1:46 pm) – Serouisly
(1:46 pm) – I think they pulled in J.
(1:46 pm) – Dainel cook wasn’t his teacher his name was mr.toft
(1:46 pm) – they look like sister dont u think so
(1:46 pm) – that would be a lot of fun!!!!!
(1:46 pm) – yes
(1:46 pm) – we could get famous
(1:46 pm) – u guys type fast
(1:46 pm) – please
(1:46 pm) – yes we do
(1:46 pm) – who was the one who kept waving 2 us
(1:46 pm) – their bteachers name is mr. toft
(1:46 pm) – I know it wasn’t cook, I couldn’t remember
(1:46 pm) – it was taft
(1:46 pm) – I don’t think i could pack my lunch every day!!!
(1:46 pm) – mr.toft
(1:46 pm) – People stop
(1:47 pm) – he was african canadian
(1:47 pm) – Mr Toft?
(1:47 pm) – no he wqasent
(1:47 pm) – I wish i got to interview mr. cook
(1:47 pm) – me 2
(1:47 pm) – i feel realy good about typin

We also decided to send home an e-mail to the parents:

During our Tech Connect Class on Tuesday, your child’s class had the opportunity to Skype with an elementary school from Ottawa, Canada. After we had finished our video conference, Mrs. Tolisano followed up a previously taught Internet Safety lesson and engaged them in a safety conversation especially focusing on chat rooms, which several of the students in the class were already familiar with. Students were then invited to a private online chat room. This chat room was closed, only accessible to our students and moderated by Mrs. Tolisano.

Once the class was over, the chat room ceased to exist in cyberspace. The intent of the lesson was not only to open up the conversation about internet safety, but also give a platform where, as a class, students collaboratively were able to summarize and discuss their experience about the Skype call.  On Tuesday, students had the opportunity to not only connect internationally with other children, but practiced how to act in a controlled online environment with their classmates.

I was asked by my principal to think BIG. What would a technology rich school look like?  My first thought was to correct the title of the assignment. Not a “technology rich”, but a technology integration rich” school. I wanted the emphasis shifted from technology (which is often set equal to hardware) to integration and LEARNING!!!

I started brainstorming with my colleague Paige M. about what the essential components would be. This is the list we came up with…. if money were no object… (the hardware is in addition to what our school currently already has in place)

Technology Integration Rich School

1. Hardware
2. Support
3. Programs
4. Accountability

Hardware

• 1:1 laptops students for older grades
• Alphasmart class sets for younger grades
• Tablet Laptops for faculty
• LCD Projectors
• SmartBoards in every classroom
• Wireless access across the school
• Ipod lab
• Digital Camera Class sets
• Flip Camera class sets
• Wii Fit and Sport

Support

• IT Support
• Curriculum Integration
• Professional Development Trainer

Projects/Programs:

• 21st Century Skills
  • Communicate
    • Literacy
  • Collaborate
    • Global Awareness
    • Geographic Literacy
  • Connect
  • Create
• Professional Development
  • Creation and support of your own Personal Learning Network
  • monthly workshops
  • international conferences
  • Monthly/Weekly planning time (substitutes)

Accountability

• Student Assessment
• Teacher Evaluation
• Reflection
• Lesson Plan Sharing
• Presentations

I also threw out the question of “What are components of a technology integration rich school to my twitter network and received the following answers.

@cwebbtech added the component of “Stakeholders” which I felt is an important addition to the components list. Who are the stakeholders in a technology integration rich school?

Stakeholders

1. Students
2. Teachers
3. Administration
4. Parents
5. Community

What are your thoughs? What would you add or take away, if you were to devise a plan to create and run a technology integration rich school?

We are in our second year of integrating technology. We moved from isolated and parallel “computer classes” to co-teaching with subject area teachers. THEIR curriculum drives what we teach, introduce, and reinforce in the computer lab. I am available full time (my colleague Paige M. part time)  to our faculty to plan, co-teach, and lead professional development opportunities for faculty, staff and administration. We emphasize our ability to :

• co-plan
• co-teach
• co-assess
• co-reflect
• co-learn

After 1 1/2 years of introducing and working as the “Technology-Everything” person at the school, I am reflecting on the successes and pitfalls of our model. While I was searching for appropriate visuals to support this blog post, it crystallized itself that in reality technology integration is similar….to baking bread.

Baking bread or my reflections on integrating technology.

If you desire to bake good bread, you will need to start out with a  good recipe. To get a good recipe, you may choose to use a good cookbook and/or learn from someone that has a lot of experience in baking and is willing to share. Make sure that you have all the ingredients and resources that you need. Make sure you have the required time to dedicate to seeing the bake process through. You are in trouble if you figure out half way through the process that you are missing the flour or that you will not be at home, when it is time to take the bread out of the oven.

So, the scenario is set…

As the technology integration facilitator, not the computer teacher or the babysitting service, you are to:

• assemble all the ingredients
• the utensils
• know the procedures
• have the right feeling for the mix- is a pinch of this or a spoonful of that missing?
• be able to time each step of the way just right- know when to push ahead or when to allow time to let the dough rise

Most of the subject areas at school are separated by classroom, by class period, even by teachers ( in upper level at elementary school). If each subject area is restricted within its shell, than no knowledge or learning can spill out, connect with or through.

I see it as part of my work to crack the shells of each subject area open and let the content flow through technology In order to create we need to pull from all of our knowledge, not just the area of a particular period we are currently in. I need to make sure that I remember that grade levels might not have it clear how the skills they teach “fit into the big pictures”. They might not have it clear how they pick up where other grade levels or subject areas have left off and how they are the stepping stools for the “yet to come” learning.

So, all the shells are cracked open, the content areas are touching each other, they are all combined in a great big bowl, yet they are still separated by  a thin skin from the others. This thin skin could be:

• individual preference
• scheduling issues
• territorialism
• the way things have always been done
• fear
• inexperience
• lack of self-confidence

It “seems” to be so organized, each subject area knowledge has its own place, assessed seperatly, everything seems in order and everybody content. What kind of learning is going on or missing if knowledge is separated?

It is time to mix ingredients. Flour or aka technology integration by co-planning and co-teaching is being added.

First it looks like that nothing is blending together. The flour, egg white and yolk don’t mix naturally at all. We need to bring in some tools that will make the process easier:

• Professional Development
  • One on one
  • Just in time
  • Small group
  • School wide
  • Conferences
  • Mentoring
  • How- to Guides
  • Screencasts
• Co-teaching
  • Co-planning
  • Tech Support in the classroom
• Accountability
  • Teacher technology evaluations
• Minimize technology related frustrations
  • Hardware, software, internet connections that work

Not every tool will work as expected. Sometimes we have to be innovative and flexible in order to blend all the ingredients. Depending on the situation some more ingredients might be necessary to create the perfect dough. A little bit of salt here, a little bit of professional development there.

A lot of hard work is involved in kneading the ingredients in becoming smooth dough. While kneading the dough over and over again, keep in mind:

• student learning
• relationships among and with colleagues
• overall school philosophy and atmosphere
• leadership
• technology comfort levels
• assessing
• reflecting
• re-evaluating
• patience
• patience
• patience

Sometimes the most perfectly formed dough, needs to undergo revisions again, there might be air bubbles, there might be pockets of flour. The doug needs to be flattened in order start
over again and giving it a new shape.

You will get the feel of what dough should feel like. Nobody can really teach you that. You know it when you get it

Next comes the feel for timing.

• time to push for more change
• time to support without overwhelming
• time to hold back and let teachers rise on their own

So, when is it time to put the dough in the oven?

• When is it time to require your teachers to integrate technology?
• When are they ready to take off the training wheels?

Image by sarako

When the bread is ready to come out of the oven, make sure to take the time to share with the hungry!

Third Grade studied endangered and threatened animals of Florida in their science curriculum. TechConnect, together with the classroom teachers planned to take this unit to the 21st century and have students, not only research facts, but become experts in their assigned animals and make a difference by share their knowledge with others. They were to learn about their animal and then produce a podcast episode. These episodes will be available to listen to and download for their iPods.

What an incredible opportunity to not only learn about each animal, but also to work on:

• Research skills
• Sound editing software
• Speaking and communication skills
• Oral fluency
• Copyright issues
• Information literacy
• Storytelling skills

The project was divided into several different pieces.

1. Students were assigned one endangered or threatened animal from Florida and given research question.
   1. Describe your animal’s habitat (Where he lives? What he eats?)
   2. Why is your animal endangered or threatened?
2. Teachers previewed and selected a limited number of links that students were to get their information from. These links were posted to the teacher’s blog.
3. Draw their animal using a drawing program (KidPix)
4. Introduction and “play time” in Sound Editing program (Audacity)
5. Voice recording of facts. Editing, re-recording, paying attention to expression, articulation, captivation, persuasion
6. Inserting and editing music as background
7. Creating an “intro” and “outro” for the podcast as a group

Here is a screenshot of the sound editing software and the project of one of the students. They learned to record, pause, edit clips, move tracks, import audio files. They are getting really good at “reading” their own voices too.

Listen in to their class episodes on Endangered and Threatened Animals in the State of Florida/USA