End of Semester Digital Reflection

Edmodo Survey= $ to Explore New Apps

Just thought I'd share something I discovered the other day:

When I was exploring around and looking at the apps on Edmodo a link/info bar came up saying that I could get $50 of Edmodo app credits if I took a short survey for them. I was hesitant but did it--and got $50 work of free credits. No joke! Pretty sweet huh? The only caveat is that they expire if you don't spend them (after 14 days I think?). I figured it'd be a great way for me to explore some of the apps that I may want to use in the classroom without feeling ripped off if it's not what I wanted it to be. I've downloaded a bunch of them and have a year to play around with them before they need to be renewed--plenty of time to see if they're worth the money or not. This could be a great option for those teachers already using Edmodo to see what works for them without using department money or worse, their own personal money, to do it.

**If you don't currently have classes/groups set up on Edmodo you'll need to create one that you are in charge of in order to have something to add the apps to**

Hopefully this works for you too and you can use it! :D

#LangChat-ing It Up...Again!

A recap of my second educational chat on Twitter, told through Storify. (A follow up to my first #langchat experience)

My Twenty-Percent Project: Part 3

Oh Google Calendar, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

Part 3 in my twenty-percent project involved learning about the finer details of Google Calendar, an app that I honestly can't live without! (To check out previous reflections see Part 1 here & Part 2 here). This was approximately a 3 hour tutorial that I did over the span of a few days since I felt fairly comfortable with the program and wasn't worried about forgetting the finer details as much. I use my Google calendars daily, to the point where they have completely replaced all of my other planners/agenda books for almost two years now.

Some of my favorite aspects of Google Calendar are:

• Integration with my smartphone & tablet. 
• Access to up-to-date information or changes on any of my devices, no matter where I am
• Ability to create multiple calendars under the same account for different purposes, and to turn each one on or off as needed for clarity/visibility
• Color coding for calendars and individual events, to quickly see what the event pertains to
• Share calendars with multiple people so they can view, edit, manage sharing, or all of the above (great for the joint calendar I have with my husband to manage family events)
• Can add guests to an event without sharing your whole calendar with them
• Easy embed capabilities (awesome for class homework calendars, etc)
• Event reminder notifications (on screen, SMS, email)
• Can receive daily emails of that day's agenda in one concise list

There are other great reasons too, but I'll stop there in order to not sound like the tutorial :) I took the test, did well, and realized I'm nothing if not consistant with the score. (It's still driving me crazy that I don't know what questions I miss and why!) 

Next step: Google Docs. That one's going to be intense, but I'm looking forward to it!

iPad Implementation: Some Points to Consider

Effectively implementing technology is an attitude shift, 

not just buying and distributing electronic gadgets. 

Today we took a visit to Paul Ecke Central Elementary School in Encinitas to explore their use of technology in the classroom, specifically their use of iPads. The Encinitas school district has dedicated themselves to providing iPads to all students grade 3-6 and have provided a large amount of discretionary funding to individual schools for the principals to determine how to best support their students (providing more iPads for other grade levels, creating up-to-date Mac labs, etc.).
(For more information on their district-wide iPad program click here.)

Below are some things that stood out to me in their iPad implementation that are worth considering when discussing iPad implementation in other districts:

• Let students be the experts-- It will probably not shock you to hear that our students, even our youngest ones, are wonderfully adept at figuring out how technology works--especially when it comes to the iPad. Sometimes teachers are hesitant to try a new program or website because they think it will take too long to teach the class how to use it, but from talking to the PEC students and from my own experience I find that to be an overwhelmingly incorrect assumption. Yes, the teacher will still need to provide explanations for some apps/websites and model its use, but once you give the students time to explore on their own you will find that they will quickly learn more features than the teacher originally anticipated. One thing I really loved was seeing how proud the students were of their tech capabilities and accomplishments! During the visit they were excited to show us what project they were working on, what app the were using, and could easily explain how it worked. One of the teachers said it best when she stated, "The kids are the experts and often teach each other, which allows me to focus more on the content." Collaborative learning at its best.
•  Natural consequences encourage accountability-- The thought of elementary students using iPads immediately conjured up thoughts of sticky fingers, broken screens, and other horror stories in my mind. Again, this assumption is totally inaccurate and the worries hardly justified. The students treat their iPads well and handle them carefully. This is due to both excellent modeling and front loading by their teachers when they are first given the iPad to use as well as the consequence of losing their iPad privileges if they cannot treat them correctly. The 'horror' of having to use paper and pencil to do your work instead of Explain Everything or similar apps is consequence enough to keep students in line and on task. The same goes with making sure their iPads are charged and ready to go--if there's not an outlet available to charge it, tough luck, it's paper and pencil for you that day. What an quick, effective way to learn cause and effect! But the  PEC teachers are not leaving everything to chance. Students are highly encouraged to buy the iPad insurance to allow for repairs if they do happen to have accidentally break it, and if they don't the repair costs fall on the student. But again, most students do not damage the equipment so this money is put into a fund to buy new devices, repair others, and pay for additional resources.
• iPad and its apps as a medium, not the "be all, end all"-- There are so many wonderful apps and resources available when using the iPad in the classroom, but it's the content that should still be front and center at all times. With that said, one method I appreciated was the teacher who allowed their students to demonstrate their knowledge in whatever way they deemed best. She posed a central question to the students and instructed them to create a product to show their thoughts and responses. By not limiting the student to a particular app at all times the teacher allows for student choice and has differentiated the lesson at the same time for multiple intelligences. Students that feel more comfortable using iMovie can express themselves that way, while others may choose something more traditional like a poster layout. At the end of the day, if each student can successfully answer the topic question, why stress out about how they choose to do it? And that goes for all classes, not just those using iPads or other technology. If we can let go of the reins a little more as teachers and allow for student choice and creativity I think we'd be astonished by the outcomes.
• Support + Attitude shift = Success-- Teachers are busy people and learning how to implement new technology takes time, which we often don't have to spare. Encinitas has addressed this issue by building in team collaboration time dedicated specifically to technology implementation once a week. During this time the grade level teachers meet to discuss apps, sites, plan how to best use them to support their curriculum, and have specific professional development sessions on programs when needed. This time is separate and different from individual planning time, and sounds like it is non-negotiable (aka can't be taken away for another reason). Along with that, teachers are able to sign up for tech training from the district office on a regular basis or can access many training sessions/notes from the Encinitas' iTunes U account. The expectation is that both teachers and students will want to use the technology available once they see its benefits, and the support is there to make sure that happens. Another reality is that the students are savvy and have learned many of the iPad capabilities last year--if a teacher was not using the technology for some reason, they risk loosing the interest and attention of a lot of students who are accustomed to a different type a learning. For better or for worse, using the iPads to enhance student learning is simply expected and yet not scary because of the support from the training, their administration, and their fellow colleagues. 

Photo via wired.co.uk

No system is perfect and iPads are not necessarily the panacea that some people make them out to be, but Paul Ecke Central Elementary and the Encinitas school district are doing a wonderful job of using them to their fullest rather than being expensive devices that gather dust or simply word process. The attitude that the iPads are there to enhance student learning rather than be the 'answer to the problem' is evident, and with a school wide/district wide approach like that I can see them being successful well into the future. 

Some questions to ponder:

What are some of the fears/issues you see in implementing a school wide/district wide program like this that I did not address? How could you see these methods working or not working in your school?

What's a MOOC?

A brief Storify on MOOCs:

Finding the Magic in the Classroom

This week has been awesome--Thanksgiving break, Thanksgiving dinner, spending time with friends, and getting to see my hubby for more than two hours at a time. But one of the best things that happened that combined three of the four things listed above was going to Disneyland for the first time. It was AWESOME! I felt like 28 going on 8, practically skipping around the park in my Minnie Mouse ears, and I loved it! It was fun, magical, special, and something I definitely want to do again.... which got me thinking: Why can't school be like this? How can we bring the Magic of Disney into our classrooms to replicate even the smallest amount of the joy that people have when they visit a Disney park?

Here are a couple of things I've come up with:

1. Positive energy and a smile will go a long way-- Everyone that works at Disney is so nice and genuinely seem happy! That happiness is infectious, and even though it seems silly at first when a cast member in Frontierland says, "Welcome partners!" with their slight southern drawl, you can't help but smile as you climb on the ride. The same is true in education. If a teacher genuinely enjoys what they do and the content they teach, the students will notice and often their attitudes will adjust accordingly. But you can't just love what you do on the inside, you have to find a way to convey that passion through your teaching. It's ok to show some emotion, get excited, and even get the class riled up a little--it's all positive energy going into the students' memory bank that can help create an authentic love of learning.
    
2. Magic happens when you let your creativity explode--Disney is an explosion of creativity and of imagination gone wild! The designers take huge risks when developing new themes and rides, but this is why Disneyland is unlike any other amusement park you've ever been to (Disney World aside). Too often we allow others to dictate what our lessons should look like or play it safe because we're unsure how it will turn out, but if we allow our creative juices to flow we could transform an otherwise routine lesson into sometime memorable for our students. This can be difficult for people like me who feel naturally uncreative, but the magic in teaching doesn't happen in the safety of the norm--it happens when we step outside our comfort zone and let the imagination & creativity flow. So when a moment of inspiration hits, don't just wave it off--embrace it, write it down, use it, and see what happens. Chances are it will be awesome!
    
3. The difference is in the details--I was absolutely amazed at the amount of detail given to each aspect of the park. The rides, the landscaping, the decorations and the costumes all were designed to create the overall impression, but if you stop to look closely you will see the extent to which the intricate details are done. For example, when you burst through a fireplace in Mr. Toad's Wild Ride you don't just go through some doors with a fireplace painted on them--you see glimmers of 'embers' scatter on the floor and the colors in the fire shifting as if it were real. These details are not necessary, but they are the true backbone behind the experience--without them the ride seems two-dimensional and dry but with them it comes alive. Teaching is full of these types of details: going out of your way to talk to each student that day, putting extra touches on the bulletin board, adding the smiley face sticker on a job well done, using current students' names in your example problems or their favorite musical group's picture in an activity--all of these are time consuming and are technically unnecessary, but they make a huge difference when put together with the positive energy and creativity pieces. They are the little extras that students remember and that personalize the educational experience for them in a unique way. Little things often make the biggest difference.

None of these are an instant classroom fix, but rather small ways to revive the magic when we're feeling low. Educators are more like the Disney cast members than we'd like to think--it's our job to put on a show and create a special learning experience for each child we have the privilege of meeting... let's embrace it & make it a good one!

OMG Disney!!! :D
I mean, I'm not excited at all....

Loved being a big kid again with my hubby & friends!

More on Students vs. Learners

I just got done talking to one of my favorite former students (are we allowed to say we have favorites?) whose comments made me revisit the idea of Students vs. Learners again. She is a taking an honors level English class where the teacher has given her a prompt, some general guidelines, and instructed them to create a research paper and project around the topic--all while documenting their learning in a journal each class period (sound familiar?).

And she is struggling... big time. She feels lost, wants more guidance, and even told me, "I just want to be told what to do! I'm scared I'm doing it wrong."

I feel her pain. She is the epitome of a 'student'--hard working, always studying, completing the task requirements to a "T"-- and she has never really had to learn in this way before. Had she told me this even a month ago I might have told her how unfair her assignment was and how the teacher should be giving her more guidance. But today I gave her a very different answer:

"Your teacher is trying to make you be a 'learner' instead of a 'student.' It's uncomfortable, isn't it? But you'll learn so much more by exploring on your own, solving your own problems, and discovering new information than you would if you were being told what to do. I promise! Have faith. You're a brillant girl and you will do awesome on this if you just let yourself be comfortable with the unknown."

But along with this advice I pray that the teacher is fulfilling her role in this learning process as well. I pray that she is guiding them, supporting them, and giving just enough assistance so that students like mine can be successful and not give up because it's too challenging or too big of a change. It's difficult to go from a student mindset to a learner's, especially if you've never done it before, and the worst thing her teacher could do is to drop her into this ocean of learning and turn away, trusting that the student will figure out how to swim--some may but others risk drowning from the shock.

The role of the teacher is so much more important in this type of learning environment and requires a vast amount of awareness on the educator's part--knowing when to step in and when to back off, what kinds of questions to ask to promote deeper thinking without leading them too much, and modeling the type of behaviors that should be used throughout the process. This kind of knowledge is developed over time through experience, but I also wonder what we can do to better prepare educators to think in this way. Is this something that we can try to foster in the teacher education programs? Or do we just learn it on the job?

Either way, I know that my former student may not be happy right now with this shift in the classroom, but I'm excited to see how she feels and what she's learned when it's all said and done--if she's intelligent as a 'student' now, I can't wait to see how much she can do as a 'learner.'

My Twenty-Percent Project: Part 2 (Updated)

I am training to be a Ninja... Well, training to be a Gmail ninja at least, but that's besides the point :)

Part two of my twenty-percent project involves diving into the awesomeness that is Gmail. There is sooooo much to learn about gmail besides the basic creating & sending of email! So much so that the tutorial is estimated to take about three hours to complete, not counting the webinar from the Google Apps for Education Professional Development series, which in about an hour long by itself.

I'm not going to lie, this second section is taking much longer to work through than I had anticipated (especially when compared to the relatively short part 1 Introduction section I wrote about). There are eight different chapters to read through and as of now I have only made it through four of them. There's a fair amount of information that I am already familiar with since I use Gmail as my primary email address, but there are a lot of little nuances to each of the parts that I either hadn't used or hadn't even heard about before. I am taking notes along the way so that I'll hopefully remember it all when it comes down to taking the test *fingers crossed*.

I'm still enjoying this adventure and learning new, helpful tips but I'm realizing that I will probably not finish all six of the modules before the semester is over--actually I can almost guarantee that I won't considering that the Docs training is estimated at eight hours by itself(!). I am quite determined to work my way through this though and will keep you posted along the way!  :)

****UPDATE****

I AM a Gmail Ninja :)

I got stubborn after writing my post and decided to plow through as many of the other four chapters as I could stand... only to find out that the last four were significantly shorter than the first--figures! Some of the learning highlights were the group chat option in gchat, color-coding message labels (didn't know you could do that!), and learning what the task function is really capable of (hint: it's great for the list makers out there). Overall, pretty cool stuff! I plan on keeping my notes and showing some of the highlights to the class in a few weeks so we can all benefit from it--but for now I will revel in my ninja status and get myself a well-deserved cookie ;)

#LangChat-ing It Up

So last night was my first 'real' teacher chat experience on Twitter. And I survived! :D

I say survived because I had tried to follow an #edchat conversation a few weeks ago, but found myself just lurking while trying to keep up with the super fast flow of discussion. Even with using TweetChat to help regulate the influx of tweets I found myself feeling a bit overwhelmed and lost. But knowing all of the good things that can come from a chat session I was determined to give it another go... and I'm very glad I did.

I decided that since I'm a foreign language teacher I should check out a #LangChat discussion. They meet every Thursday at 5pm PST (8pm EST), so I set a phone alarm for 4:55pm so I wouldn't miss it. With my Tweetdeck open and other distractions aside I was ready to go this time! I also decided it might be a good idea to drag my #LangChat column over next to my Interaction column in Tweetdeck too, just in case, and it helped tremendously when I was trying to see who had responded to me so I could reply back.

Ok, on to the actual chat. The topic was, "What are some strategies that help strengthen students' reading skills?" The discussion was fluid, interesting, friendly, and not overwhelming at all--there were enough people posting that discussions were insightful and productive, yet not so many that I couldn't keep track of it all. I was able to give out some suggestions of my own and was happy when I could respond to someone's question or add to the conversation. I came away with a bunch of new ideas on how to encourage reading in my Spanish classroom, new educators to follow on Twitter, and some new followers myself. The best part about it for me is having applicable professional development and conversation with educators all over the world at my finger tips--pretty awesome! Overall, I highly recommend participating in a Twitter chat if you can--it was a great experience and one that I will definitely be doing again soon!

The Power of Words

Ah Election Coverage... you bring out the good, the bad, and the just plain nasty in people more than almost any other topic, and this past week was no different. There was a difference though in the way it was presented and spread about like wildfire, and I attribute that difference to the vast uprise of social media in our lives over the past four years. Now granted, things like Twitter and Facebook have been around longer than that (though not that much longer, relatively speaking), but when looking at how differently they were used in this election it's not hard to see that they have grown and evolved significantly since the 2008 coverage. 

Many times on both Tuesday and Wednesday I found myself sitting in amazement at how social media has truly changed they way we 'do' life. Status updates, Tweets, Blogs, and comments are such an integral part of our daily interactions that it only makes sense that we would want to discuss an important national decision like this through those means. But I saw so many instances of people who are friends in real life, or even family members, making mean, insensitive, and just plain rude comments to one another under the premise that through the internet such things are ok to say. People were being offensive to friends & 'friends' alike to the point that some were removing them from their profile or life altogether.

Now, I enjoy social media and all of the benefits it has brought us--never before have we been in such a place as to communicate with each other instantly around the world, learn from one another, get answers to questions, and access professional development resources--but sometimes I wonder why can't we be civil with each other? And where will we draw the line between debate and personal attack? Are people even able to find that line anymore? 

Which brings me to the world of education. I truly believe that negative interactions like these can often be avoided, but it takes a special type of literacy to do so--one that could be called something like Social-Tech Literacy or Social Media Literacy. This type of literacy does not just include things like ensuring that students know how social media works and are able to navigate new interfaces (though those are important foundations of it) but also how to interact properly with others online. This type of literacy education would include word choice and tone, but also the power that is contained through punctuation, emoticons, and other text formatting options. The teaching of social media etiquette and literacy will become increasingly important as we begin to integrate it more and more into our classrooms, and the reality is that someone needs to teach it! There are far too many adults and children alike using harsh, hateful language to 'discuss' a topic--when the topic could be addressed both critically and civilly at the same time--because they are unaware of how to discuss it otherwise**.

Words are powerful, and even more so when the 'listener' cannot hear the intonation through the internet text. If we can begin to address tone, formatting, and word choice in online interactions in our classrooms then we will be taking a huge step towards creating a future generation that is more cognizant of what they say, both online and otherwise. And who knows, maybe this is part of the formula for reducing the amount of online bullying out there too....One can only hope!


Thoughts? Agree or disagree? Comment below and I'd love to discuss it with you!


**(I'm choosing to assume that they are unaware of the effects of their word selection rather than it being a conscious choice, which would be an entirely different issue.)

Proof of Learning

What have I learned so far? 
What a loaded question! :-P I feel like I've learned a lot so far, about both myself and technology. Through this class and in cultivating my PLN I've learned that:

• I like routine and expectations, but if I push myself I can overcome that and be more of a learner than a student.
  
• I don't always need to rely on someone to show me how to do something online/"techie"--When in doubt, Google it! :) I'm more confident in my computer problem solving skills that ever before yet know that there's soooo much still to learn in many different areas.
  
• Twitter is not the "useless social networking tool to tell people what you're eating that day" that I thought it was. I've found some really great resources and inspiration there, and can't wait to get back in the classroom to try them out!
  
• it's important to not get overwhelmed with the massive amounts of information and 'time suck' out there. If I only have a short period of time that day, then I use it and leave it at that. Sometimes that means starting blog posts one day and finishing them the next, or not going through a whole column feed and maybe missing something really cool--but that's ok! I can't use it all but I can find some use for some.
  
• documenting learning experiences and cultivating materials are essential for using this information in the future. As I find great ideas or analyze how I want to change my teaching, I want to be able to look back and remember what these inspirations were. Blogging, Tweeting, and Diigo seem like great venues for this that I would have not considered before.
  
• what I create doesn't have to be perfect--I just need to put it out there and see what happens. Sometimes a tons of people will read it or comment on it, and other times it just sits there...and that's ok. (Though I'm not gonna lie, I love getting comments and retweets :) ) 

There are a lot more specifics (like how to subtitle a video or what cool things you can do with Google Apps) as well as ideas/concepts that have been analyzed (filters, passion, communities of practices) but I feel like the overarching 'learning' can't always be written down as neatly labeled pieces--it's hopefully much broader and deeper than that.

What my learning tends to look like

My Learning Process:
I wouldn't consider this a list that "all students" should follow for this class per se--but rather my weekly personal steps for fostering technology learning this semester. So far my usual week looks like this:

• Take at least 5 minutes in the morning and/or before I go to bed to check Twitter and retweet anything that catches my eye (though lately it has been a lot more than 5 minutes).
  
• Look at my Zite 'magaizine' on my ipad once a day or every couple of days to look for articles of interest to me (Education, Running, Cooking, Languages, etc) and tweet them out when helpful.
  
• Use info from my other classes/peers' posts/Twitter finds to spur on at least one original, unprompted blog post a week.
  
• Try to dedicate 1 hour a week or so to my Twenty-percent project and its write-up (though that may not happen this week due to my video editing explorations).
  
• Work on whatever class reading/assignment we were encouraged to do that week.
  
• Comment on others' posts when I can. 

If I had to put a 'time frame' around the outside classwork I have done it's been around the 3-4 hours a week range minimum, though I often get distracted on Twitter or Facebook or get really into working on something and it ends up being a lot more--I honestly have a hard time putting an estimate on it because I do quite a lot on my phone and computer, combining it with other classwork and just plain screwing around, so my usage time frames are a bit more random. 

I also realize that I am a full-time student this semester, without kids or a part-time job besides studying and normal housework things--so even though I find ways to keep myself quite busy (my class load is a bit intense at times) I know that may have more time than most to invest in some of these venues.

This is a just a half-way-ish reflection of learning up until this point--I hope there are many more things I can add to these lists before the semester is over. 

Adding Subtitles to YouTube Videos

For one of my other classes we were required to record ourselves teaching so that we could analyze it in class and find ways to improve. It sounded like a great idea.... except that I teach Spanish and very few people in that class speak Spanish.

Hmm.... How are they going to understand what I'm doing or saying to help me improve without a ton of pausing/stopping/explaining? I know! SUBTITLES! :) Perfect for a Foreign Language teacher!

The basic process of adding subtitles, or closed captioning, to YouTube videos is pretty easy and straight forward using CaptionTube, a Google-based Beta program. I used this site to help guide me, but here are the steps summarized in my own words.

1. Upload the desired video to your YouTube account. 
2. Go to CaptionTube; Sign-in with your Google account and select a video to upload/sync.
3. Click 'edit' next to the video to get started.
4. Click 'add caption' at the spot in the video where you would like the text to appear and type your text into the box. 
5. Then adjust the caption start time and duration to ensure it starts and ends where you want it to. Use the CaptionTube Help page for shortcuts, visuals, and other FAQs.
   (I did a lot of pressing 'play'/'pause' to know where in the video I wanted the caption and where I wanted it to end--if I had seen the shortcuts earlier, I'm sure it would have been faster).
6. Once you've added all the captions you want, click 'publish', and select 'Publish on YouTube'. 

And voilà, you have a subtitled video. Pretty cool, huh? If the subtitles don't show up initially on your video, click the 'CC' button on the bottom right corner to turn them on. Here's an example video I captioned to show you how it looks when it's all done:



(Note: My class video was about 10 minutes long, and I speak quite quickly, so it took much longer than expected to write the transcript of my lesson and the caption it. BUT the captioning process itself is not difficult! Just don't choose a long video and expect it to go quickly. Also, having a typed-out transcript is really helpful for longer videos--you can just copy/paste into the caption box quickly once that transcribing part is done.)

Stories through Design

Check out this really interesting interview of Christoph Neimann, graphic designer and artist featured in The New Yorker and The New York Times.  From http://www.gestalten.com/motion/christoph-niemann I love how he uses images, both tangibly drawn and computer generated, to explain complex concepts in a way that many people can understand. He employs humor, intelligence, and social commentary in his work that is accessible and extremely creative--an example of Pink's Design and Story senses at their finest.  As an educator I would love to ask him:

• What school was like for you? 
• Were you successful in all of your classes/subject areas? 
• Did your teachers know about your amazing ability to create meaning through visuals? 
• What would you tell students today who want to do what you do? 
• What advice would you give to help them in school now and be successful later on?

To see more of his work visit his New York Times blog called Abstract Sunday here: http://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/.  And for an awesome lesson plan surrounding him, his work, and how to create & interpret graphic language see The Learning Network's post here: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/graphic-language-reviewing-and-creating-from-the-work-of-christoph-niemann/

My Twenty-Percent Project: Part 1

After much thinking and considering the input from my peers, I decided to focus my Twenty-Percent Project around becoming a Google Apps for Education (GAFE) qualified individual. I was really excited to try it out but also scared of what it would look like and what the test would ask me to do to prove that I am qualified. 

So ready or not I started Module 1 today: Google Apps for Education (Admin). The training module was straight forward and fairly easy to follow--four chapters with different focus points to read/review. My former district had just begun using Google Apps my last year there so I had experience with what it offers and entails. There was general overview information, FAQs, and a fair amount of site administrator specific information. I wish that my GAFE account had admin privileges so I could click around & see what they were talking about, but even without it I was able to learn some pretty cool things that would have been helpful in my old district and will be helpful in the future. For example, my former district was not using the groups function to be best of their ability. Not only are groups able to be used for specific email lists, but even more useful is that you can share sites, docs, videos, and calendars and their permissions to those groups as well! And that these permissions self-update as you add or remove people from that group, without any extra steps. That by itself would have made our lives a lot easier last year!

After completing the training module it was time to take the test. Once you purchase the test and start it, you have 90 minutes to complete 60 multiple choice questions about the module you just completed. I was freaking out a little at first until I realized that you can go back into the training readings to find the answer if you're not sure (*phew!). After figuring that out and relaxing a bit, the test went smoothly and I was done with plenty of time (even with looking up a few answers). Anxiously clicking the "End Test" button I found the results below:

Yay! Go me! :) You have to get 80% or higher to pass, so I was in the clear. The only thing I wish they would change is allow you to see what questions you missed--it drives me crazy when I get something wrong and I don't know why! But all in all, a good first Twenty-Percent Project day. 

One part down, five more to go....

Creating Learners

  The Essence of Connected Learning from DML Research Hub on Vimeo.

"How do you create a need to know in a kid?" Or rather, how do you create a learner instead of a student? This video is timely in its relation to our learner vs student discussions and blog posts, and I feel like it touches on some of the same issues. How do we teach the next generation to learn and be learners? The video above, "The Essence of Connected Learning,"  highlighted few key points for me in trying to reach this goal of creating learners in our schools.

The first is that we are currently taking learning out of context and focusing on facts rather than learning. I think this is so true! Facts alone do not lead to understanding--but if you place the information in context and allow a student to construct their own meaning around the topic we will create a deeper understanding that will last way past the test date. And the more authentic the context the better!

The second is the idea of bringing people together who want to learn together. Not only can we strive to do this in our classrooms by grouping students of similar interests, but in our connected technological world we can also reach out to others to foster this community of learning. We need to use our resources, both in and outside the classroom, to tap into students' interests and encourage their thirst for knowledge regardless of whether it coincides with what we find interesting or not. 

And lastly is that the attitude of, "We're all going to learn the same things in the same way," is completely unnecessary in today's education world. Why can't we provides projects/assessments with choices? If a student wants to create a video showing off their knowledge of Hispanic cultures or would rather draw a visual representation or write me an essay, why can't I allow all of them to be representative of their learning? I think this is definitely easier said than done because as teachers we need to reprogram our brains (and assessment guidelines) to allow for these different "proof of learning" forms. They don't fit into our current molds, but are worth the time and exploration to allow students choice in how they learn.

These are just my personal takeaways and reflections on the video--what do you think? Agree/disagree? Have another key idea I should have included? Let me know! :)

Are we learners or students?

Our Learning and Technology class has a very different set up than I am used to--there is no concrete syllabus, very few specific assignments and guidelines, and (perhaps the most foreign concept of all) the expectation that we will be learners.

Yes, I just said that being a learner is a foreign concept to many of us, myself included. "But isn't that the goal of education?" you ask and, "I've always been a learner; I don't know what you're talking about," you scoff. But is it really and are you sure? After thinking deeply about it and reflecting on our professor's post on learners vs. students I would have to boldly say that we as a society are hardly learners at all.

We have been trained by our education system to be students--to follow the norm, the syllabus, the guidelines--and have been sucked dry of the inclinations to be a learner instead. And I will be the first to admit that I fall into this student category. I've been well trained to cater my work to the teacher's desires, I know when to be quiet and when to chime in, and I have felt pride at times that I can test well, generally know how to succeed and get good grades--that I can be a good student.

And there it is: I am a good student. I've never heard anyone say "I'm a good learner," and maybe that says something in and of itself.

So yes, it makes me uncomfortable to not have a rubric to guide me, a checklist to complete, a number or quantity assigned to produce--it's unfamiliar territory with a technically "unmeasurable" expectation. We know through educational research that these traditional methods often stifle creativity and limit learning, yet we do them anyway. And graduate school, where I'm often reminded of the fallacy of these methods, is a regular perpetrator itself. I'm given page limits, word limits, specific expectations--and the scary part is, they make me comfortable. Familiar is comfortable.

But learning is not always comfortable. So now here I am, constantly battling with wanting to learn, to create, to test out and to try, and yet struggling with it--struggling because my other classes require very little of this (and quite frankly, because I haven't really been allowed this kind of chance to learn before).

So what does it mean to be a learner? This goal that is so uncomfortable to reach? And what can we do to encourage it? For me being a learner is having the intrinsic motivation to seek out information, to acquire knowledge with the intent of using it to do something in the world. As educators we have the awesome responsibility of creating these types of learners that will hopefully change the world. Are we allowing them the opportunities to explore? To learn on their own? Or are we prescribing an agenda and teaching to the test?

What can we do to start changing this in our classrooms while still jumping through all of the hoops that our broken systems requires from us? I'd love to hear your opinions of how this can be done, as I'm honestly searching for the balance myself. But for now, I will do my best to model by example and try to be a learner rather than just a student. Wish me luck!

Photo: GETTY via http://www.telegraph.co.uk

A Culture of Generosity

What is a culture of generosity and how can it be used to improve education?
A culture of generosity is one in which people rely on their intrinsic motivations to do things that benefit society, rather than being told what they should do by bosses or financial motivations. It is one of spontaneous versus enforced action, empowering people with choice.

I feel like the world of education may be a little stuck like the parent pick-up experiment was in the video below once they released the fine--our education system in the minds of many is already broken and that mentality is perpetuating itself in the minds of others . But we cannot allow ourselves to get hung up there. As Clay Shirky said, people like to create and to share with others, and we need to tap into that venue to cultivate and improve education. Encouraging teachers to give assignments that allow for student choice, or offering extra credit/acknowledge/recognition for students who use their cognitive surplus for the benefit of others could be some ways to to do this. Also, allowing students the time to be creative (like the 20% project theory) could do wonders in helping inspire students without an external motivation (like grades) hanging over their heads. The important thing is to encourage all acts of creation and cognitive, "stupid" or not, because it in turn will help foster the creation of amazing things both immediately and in the future.

What does it mean to say, "Free cultures get what they celebrate?"
I think it means that if we celebrate creativity and generosity, then we will see more of it in our students in return. But if we celebrate consumerism and acquisition then people will just acquire and consume, perpetuating our current culture rather than forging a new one.

How do you think this could work in education today?

Living in a Bubble (A Filter Bubble, That Is)

Have you ever stopped to think about whether you "live in a bubble" or not? I often have, especially because of growing up in a small, Midwestern town and attending a small, private, Midwestern college. It was easy at times to forget that there was a world around you that had very different realities and opinions than the one you were currently in--until you got shocked back to the real world by some event or comment that allowed you to look outside of your situation once again. Sometimes these bubbles we live in are of our own choosing, but other times they are completely out of our control. 
Have you ever thought that your online interactions could be putting you in a bubble? Allowing only certain bits of information in and keeping much more out? Take a minute to watch the TED talk below where Eli Pariser talks about "Online Filter Bubbles" and let it sink in for a bit. 

Whoa.... talk about living in a bubble! I knew that preferences and algorithms focused our online experience but I had no idea to what extent before watching this clip.  

This really got me thinking about what kind of filter bubble I am living in today. I don’t want to only receive certain types of information just because I ‘liked’ a friend’s Facebook post or clicked on something first. It also made me think about how having multiple people share my personal computer (e.g. my husband, sister, friends) can influence the types of information coming my way. My husband loves comics and action figures, but that doesn't mean that I want Google to update this into one of my preferred topics of interest. 

With as much as we focus on on trying to get students to develop a critical literacy with text and information it’s crazy to think that we ourselves are being limited to the kinds of information we have access to, perhaps without even knowing it. The idea of the Internet giving us what we want to see and maybe not what we need to see, as Pariser said, can be dangerous in that we are not becoming fully informed on topics, or even aware that they exist--and this lack of knowledge could perpetuate the uninformed, one-sided, "bubble" mindset that we hope to avoid.

So, what do we do? Can we even do anything about it? That, I am honestly not sure of. I do know that I want to see what else is out there, good and bad, and decide for myself whether or not it is relevant to me. Otherwise, how else can we learn?

What are your thoughts on this? Feel free to comment below--I'd love to hear other people's reactions or insights they might have on this!

The Complexity of Society

We had some great talks last Monday night about privilege, oppression, race, gender, and how society as a whole is soooo complex--it's refreshing, and I think healthy, to be able to talk openly about all of this and I feel blessed to have classmates that we can do this with!

There were huge connections to what we discussed and the Multiple Literacies class some of us are currently taking this semester. In this class we spent a week reading about and discussing Critical Literacy--"how our literacy development begins at birth and is shaped by prior knowledge, social interactions, cultural values and beliefs" as stated by Dr. Kane (our professor). Three really interesting articles that we read (that you should read, too, if you find a few minutes) are:

“Privilege, Oppression, and Difference” by Allan Johnson.

"‘Signs of Life’ in the High School Classroom: Analyzing Popular Culture to Provide Student Choice in Analytical Writing" by Shannon Falkner. English Journal (2011).

“Pedagogy of the Oppressed" by Paulo Freire or
“Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire- An Analysis” a blog submitted by dheimann.


 Also, a really interesting TED talk video on The Danger of a Single Story--DEFINITELY worth watching!


What did you think of the video? I'll share more of my thoughts if you share yours :)

A Whole New Mind: Part One

Take a look at the photo below: What side of the brain do you feel holds your personal strengths? Why do you think that is? I identify my strengths as more Left Brain with strengths in language, math, and facts--and I struggle with being creative and Art as a whole. Why is that and why does it matter?

Photo from http://www.ucmas.ca 

Much of what we teach and encourage in education is left-brain based, including the standardized tests that often open (or close) the doors to college and beyond. But there is a movement developing that may change how we approach these types of analytical aptitudes. Daniel Pink's book "A Whole New Mind" is an interesting take on society's transition from left-brained focus into what he calls the "Conceptual Age," and how we will have to reprogram our ways of thinking and learning in order to be successful in this new era.

What is the Conceptual Age?
According to Pink the Conceptual Age is the era in which we're heading where creators and empathizers are going to be 'main characters' in the work force. It is the transition from the left-brain directed thinking of the Informational Age into an age where computers and outsourced workers can do much of that work for us now, faster and cheaper. Because of this we need to be innovative and creative, utilizing a right-brain directed thinking that had been ignored or under emphasized in the past, to find our unique niche and be successful. It's more of a concept based thinking rather than simply using facts and informational knowledge.


Why does Pink believe this "Conceptual Age" requires a whole new mind?
He doesn't think that we need a whole new mind as in a completely different version, but rather a whole new mind--a mindset that uses both halves of the brain, combining the functional properties of the left brain (L-directed thinking) with the complex, creative right brain (R-directed thinking) to achieve a new level of intelligence. Pink says that the traditionally touted L-directed aptitudes are still necessary and should not be left by the wayside, but they are no longer sufficient on their own (Pink 27). We need to also employ the creative and innovative R-Directed thinking, which is something that computers cannot do for us and what creates the big developments of the future. Even if a computer, machine, or cheaper labor force can eventually take over the task they will still need someone to dream it up and develop it.

Photo from http://www.danpink.com/

As a whole I agree with what Pink is suggesting, especially his points on how general abundance is influencing part of this change in thinking. His statement, "The very triumph of L-Directed Thinking has lessened its significance," really helps hit this idea home for me (Pink 33). We have become so successful due to L-Directed thinking and have so many products, options, and choices--and yet we're still unhappy. R-directed thinking allows for enlightenment and fulfillment in meaning and interactions rather than "things." This is definitely something I agree with and strive to make priority in both my own life as well as in teaching. I also love the idea of having a alternative SAT assessment like the Rainbow Project to measure the previously ignored characteristics such as comedic or empathetic aptitude. It is qualities like these that often mark the difference between average and greatness in a profession and it's unfortunate that we have been unable to "test" them until now.

The next step in my mind is thinking about how we can integrate this type of focus into our education system without losing the parts of L-Directed thinking that have allowed us to get to this point. It seems like it could be difficult to balance in the classroom, but then again that may be because of the type of information learner I was and how I was taught to teach. I'm interested in learning and reading more about it and will let you know what I come up with in the near future.

My Twenty-Percent Project: A Brainstorm

Have you ever heard of a "Twenty-Percent Project"? 

(and no, it's not a class assessment that's worth 20% of your grade :) 

I hadn't before this semester started. The idea behind our 20% project is based off of what Google does with and for their employees. Basically you allow people to dedicate 20% of their time to work on personal projects of their choosing, with the hopes & premise that whatever they're working on will benefit the company in some way. Along with that, if people are working on a project of their choosing that they're passionate about they will produce better work and be happier on the job. All sounds awesome to me! And logical and innovative!

Since our class is called Learning & Technology our job is to "learn something new using technology." I can do that :) The problem is limiting it down to something I am passionate about, want to learn, and feel like I can accomplish/produce a product by the end of the semester. Here are a couple of the ideas I'm tossing around for my project:

Image via http://www.collingsguitars.com/

Learning how to play the guitar
I know it's one of the examples that we were given in class, but it's something I've always want to do and haven't really had the time to dedicate to it. I LOVE the sound of an acoustic guitar and my husband even bought me a guitar a couple of years ago for Christmas. I started to teach myself how to play but gave up early on once the pressures at work because too much to keep up with. I'd love to try it again, this time around really focusing on it and actually remembering what fingers to use to make what chord :)


Become Google Apps for Education Qualified Individual

This goal seems more lofty and yet doable at the same time. To become a GAFE qualified individual you have to go through a six-part training course using online modules and then take a certification/qualification test. (Click here for more information). I could see this being challenging and yet really fun & exciting--I love Google Apps and can see a huge benefit to using them in the classroom! But I will openly admit that I am far from knowing enough to be at "qualified" status right not. One of my worries with this one though is not completing the modules or the test before the end of the semester, and being able to produce a "product" demonstrating my knowledge. Even so, I'm beginning to like this idea more and more.

Cooking & Baking
If you ask my family, I am the WORST cook hands down! Though recently I have been working on honing my skills and trying to create edible meals for my hubby and me. I've got a few new dishes down pat but I would love to have the time to research some new dishes, with processes I haven't tried before, and put them to the test. I think this would work better with baking since many of the cupcakes and desserts can be multi-day, multi-step processes that have been too scary and time consuming to try until now. Maybe even have a hand at making homemade ice creams and fro-yos? It all sounds delicious to me and something I would really enjoy doing. And the performance/product would obviously be bringing some goodies in to class for testing/tasting. :)


Ok, so what do you guys think? Any of these stand out as better than the others?  What would you do? Please feel free to comment below with any/all opinions and suggestions!

Communities of Practice and My PLN

What is a community of practice (CoP)? Etienne Wenger defines it as such:

Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.

As I was reading the reference pages below I didn’t initially find myself feeling all that surprised with what I was seeing. These CoPs are already ingrained in our lives and experiences, and they seem so common sense. Sharing information with other teachers will make our own teaching better? Of course. Applying this shared information in the classroom can be more effective than relying solely on yourself? I  hope so. I was wondering what the point of giving these groups a ‘name’ and writing about it was until I encountered this:

“In fact, communities of practice are everywhere. They are a familiar experience, so familiar perhaps that it often escapes our attention. Yet when it is given a name and brought into focus, it becomes a perspective that can help us understand our world better. In particular, it allows us to see past more obvious formal structures such as organizations, classrooms, or nations, and perceive the structures defined by engagement in practice and the informal learning that comes with it.”

Ok, good. I’m not totally crazy then--we have been doing this already. And giving it a name so that we can analyze it to use it in other contexts definitely makes more sense now.

And you know what? After reading that I gained a newfound appreciation of the fact that I have been participating in CoPs for a while now and that it seems so second nature to me. Collaborating with other educators is so important, necessary even, to ensure that we are helping our students learn as much as they possibly can under our guidance. These communities of practice can provide encouragement, inspiration, a support system, expertise, and much more as we interact with them throughout our teaching careers.

I think this concept of CoPs has a lot do with my own PLN and in analyzing where I want it to go. As Mark Smith mentions in “‘Communities of Practice,’ the encyclopedia of informal education”, 

“Initially people have to join communities and learn at the periphery. The things they are involved in, the tasks they do may be less key to the community than others.”

I feel like that is where I am at right now in terms of my own online PLN. I’m slowly starting to join different communities, exploring what they have to offer and teach me, but not really being able to provide much back to them yet. I cultivate a lot of information via Twitter, but I haven’t gotten into providing a lot of my own; I read other educator’s blogs but am still working on posting my own regularly; I have a Diigo account but haven’t started using it to connect and share with others.

In terms of my in-person community of practice/PLN at school I feel like I have a lot to offer and have been more of a full participant--collaborating in world language department meetings, working with my grade level teammates to create individual action plans for students, and applying new practices in my classroom per the advice of my coworkers. These things have provided me with the opportunity to both give and take in my CoP and have been very positive experiences.

In order for my online PLN to become more of a community of practice, along with its positive experiences and benefits, I need to:

• become more involved. You can’t be a visitor in a CoP and reach the full potential of what that community can be and provide.
• practice what I/they preach. A CoP isn’t about just gleaning ideas and thinking about it--it is about putting them into practice and sharing with others what works and what doesn’t.

I’ve focused a lot on what a CoP means to me as an educator working on professional development but there is also the idea that the CoP model could work in the classroom as well, with the students working together with themselves and the teacher to bring real-world application into their learning. From what I’ve read of it it sounds like an interesting idea with great potential for enhancing student learning, but it is not without it’s issues or concerns.

In the work “Using Communities of Practice to Enhance Student Learning” Edward Bilodeau addresses some of the issues that can arise when using the CoP model directly with students. While he focuses a lot of the positives, he acknowledges that there could be issues in evaluation, community memberships, and power relationships among others. It's something I'd like to read more about to see how this concept could work with students in the classroom.

What does your community of practice look like? What areas would you focus on to make improvements and get the most out of it? 

Image credit: Allan, B. (Designer). (2008). Knowledge creation within a community of practice. [Web]. Retrieved from http://masters.bilbea.com/extras/Chinese_teacher_PD/Chinese_teacher_PD_final.html via http://convcme.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/communities-of-practice-a-framework-for-learning-and-improvement/

References:
Bilodeau, Edward. “Using Communities of Practice to Enhance Student Learning: Examples and Issues” (2003). http://www.coolweblog.com/bilodeau/docs/2003-10-01-cop-enhancing-student-learning.pdf

Smith, M. K. (2003, 2009) 'Communities of practice', the encyclopedia of informal education. www.infed.org/biblio/communities_of_practice.htm.

Wenger, Etienne. “Communities of Practice: A Brief Introduction” (2006). http://www.ewenger.com/theory/

Can You Focus Your Passion?

"What you are passionate about in terms of education or leadership? What do you hope to do with this passion (or what are you already doing with this passion)? If you had to narrow down your passion to one specific aspect in terms of your future research, what would it be?"

What am I passionate about in education? Everything. Can everything be an answer? No? Ok, I'll be a little more specific.

I’m passionate about:

• Building relationships
• Teaching & learning
• Helping others to become good people & productive members of society
• Making connections
• Inspiring passion in others
• Preparing students for the future
• Making a difference

If I had to narrow it down though, one thing that I’d like to focus on for future research is meaningful technology integration in the classroom (specifically my Spanish classroom). This is an area that I find interesting, challenging, and practical given the influential nature that technology has on our lives and for our students’ futures. Also, the use of technology in a foreign language classroom is rich with possibilities for connection, communication, and real world application. I feel that this topic has the most potential for combining all of the things I listed above into one focus--the best of both worlds.

Do you agree? What would you focus on if you had to narrow your passion down to one thing?