I finally got around to reflecting on the sessions I attended at ISTE. As I was writing, I was pleased to note that I have already begun implementing some of the ideas I learned about at the session.
Backchannel:
- Main wiki here: http://backchannel.sswiki.com/Structure UN: backchannel PW: everyvoice
- Must have focus or conversation will get away from main topic.
- Communicate rules. Keep them simple. Ex: Be nice, Be clear, Be open
- Can put the backchannel tool into website or wiki.
My Takeaway from Backchanneling:
I have since discovered drop.io's chat tool (http://drop.io/dropname/chat) that, at this time, is not blocked by my district. It is simple to use and will work for almost all my grade levels. For my next backchannel event, I will spend more time setting ground rules for the chats. It is such a powerful communication tool and an amazing way to assess students and drive instruction based on results.
Managing the 21st Century Classroom
- http://web.me.com/alwayson
- http://sites.google.com/site/managingthemodernclassroom/
My Takeaway from the 21st Century Classroom:
I did not attend this session. It was closed. Nice resources and presented by a collegue in my district.
Google Enhanced Classroom:
- http://my.uen.org/myuen/58239/2
- Google Squared: http://www.google.com/squared. Allows searches to be returned in the form of a table with rows of information and infinite numbers of columns of data.
- Gmail has video chat. Both users must have plug-in
- If you use Google Calendar and make public, allows followers to subscribe and add into their calendar
- http://earth.google.com/ then to gallery allows you load new layers into google earth to see some amazing pieces of data. Ex: World Oil Consumption graphically shows which countries and how much oil they use
- http://googlelittrips.org
- Literature Tours in Google Earth - other tours? historical figures, animal migration. Use image tag in location marker to add graphic or image.
My Takeaway from Google Enhanced Classroom:
I need to more deeply explore Google Earth. This tool can have the most significant impact on learning in my setting. I really liked the Google Earth gallery and I imagine that this gallery can meet the needs in many subjects from language arts to science. My goal will be to explore this tool for some of the science units my teachers have near the beginning of the year including weather for 6th and 2nd grade.
Math and Technology and Spreadsheets
Spreadsheets
- http://mathcats.com/spreadsheets/
- For estimation, setup a square root formula (multiply a cell by itself)
- Use Google Spreadsheets to gather birthday data and use scatter plot graph.
- http://www.themathplace.org/
My Takeaway from Math and Technology and Spreadsheets:
Math is a weakness of mine. I have succesfully integrated Excel/Google Spreadsheets into some lessons but the ideas presented here will definitely broaden my lesson ideas. This session also reminded me that integrating technology into a lesson doesn't have to be grand and time consuming. It can be as simple as having kids come in and create their own multiplication table and allowing them to add colors and formatting to customize it to make it their own.
Assistive Technology
- Here is new technology, how to use it, how to manage it. Should be asked and answered for all new technology.
- ePortfolio can be as easy as a PowerPoint. Should be a learning journal.
- Selection - academic social physical
- Collection - work videos pitures
- Reflection - identify artifacts that show growth and needs
- Projection-Update goals based on growth and needs
- Presentation-create presentation that includes artifacts in ways that show progress toward goals
- Demonstrates how much student grows. EX: copy of a page from Harry Potter. Student went from 47 missed words to 27 to only 9 words missed. All demonstrated on a PowerPoint eLearning Portfolio.
My Takeaway from Assistive Technology:
This session was one of the two most powerful sessions for me that I attended (see Alan November session below for the other). By powerful, I mean a session that will significantly drive my practice this year. This will be my third year teaching technology and each year I feel I am not quite using technology to help those students whose learning is affected in some way. I feel I can use technology to better meet the needs of our sped and ssn students. I also feel technology can help our students who have difficulty processing information and even our gifted kids. I am writing this reflection near the beginning of the school year and we have already done so much to help many of these students. Our school purchased 5 iPads and I am working with learning specialist and building resource teacher in implementing this tool with apps like Dragon and Storykit. I am excited about this new direction in my practice and hope to reach more students than I have in the past.
Primary Classroom
- Blog - Parent meeting includes my teacher web address
- http://classblogmeister.com/ -
- Start first week. Many parents or volunteers to help
- Can use an expert system. The one or two who know a skill teaches the others.
- Blogs as digital portfolios, This teacher uses blogger,
- Videos to teach sequencing to tell a story.
- Global collaboration project - rock our world.
- Use the commoncraft story telling with cutout characters.
- Videos that show (and reinforce) learning to teach planning (storyboarding), tasks, roles, props, setting/location,
- Kids can also creat how-to tutorials for sequencing
- photobabble allows students to talk about their learning with a photo in the background.
- Skype to talk and learn with others. Practiced with staff and buddy class.
- http://plan4tech.wikispaces.com
- Weather conversation for skype, classes in other locations, experts like scientist, doctors
- Start small, practice, take your time
My Takeaway from Primary Classroom:
I got some great ideas from this session such as how-to tutorials to teach sequencing. This session also showed me that I am doing many things right. For a new teacher, this is great positive reinforcement. Every now and then, we need that reassurance.
21st Century Skill-Empathy
Alan November, November Learning
Learn how to design more rigorous and motivating assignments that engage students in global communications and help them understand different cultural perspectives and points of view
- Working with people around the world requires skill and sensitivity as to cultural differences.
- We need to globalize our curriculum.
- Your job now is to say hello and build partnerships with other teachers around the world that fit your curriculum.
- Challenge every single teacher to find teachers around the world to connect with.
- Empathy - the most important skill in a global economy are people who can hold different points of view at the same time (wow) BTW - americans are not very good at that ..as a group.
- swesch
- In a global economy it is insufficient to do test scores as your mission
- root zone database is the alphabet of country codes.
- We should teachers how to give assignments they have not given before
- find essays by students in england about the american revolution. Email the teacher and invite the teacher to view the analysis our class did on the essay.
- Debate the other class (in england) over course of events
- Students should be having conversations with students around the world
- If we are studying other cultures we MUST get in touch with somebody living in that country!!! Same for books based on other cultures. Go to websites from those countries to learn how that book or information is viewed.
My Takeaway from 21st Century Skill-Empathy:
This session was one of the two most powerful sessions for me that I attended (see Assistive Technology above for the other). By powerful, I mean a session that will significantly drive my practice this year. Of course, I am aware that technology can open the world to our students but in my first two years of practice, I have not utilized the technology that would allow this. There are many reasons for this including a building that was new to technology integration, the difficulty in finding tools that are easy for primary kids to use while keeping them safe, and simply knowing how to design lessons that open the world with technology. Alan November's session gave some great ideas that were "out-of-the-box" and basically stated that it should be mandatory to use technology to open the world to our students. It was a wake-up call for me and one that I have already started to implement into lessons. All of our 1st-6th grade students will participate in the National Day on Writing using a 21st century tool. Our primary kids will use Storybird.com and our 4th-6th graders will each get their own blog. This is a start for us. It is a beginning. It is a small step in moving from posting our writing on our school walls but hopefully the crack in the door will grow wider through this year and the years to come.