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!