Who's Leading the Way?

I just read a very insightful blog post by George Couros (@gcouros) on the power that school systems have to kill innovation...and how that might have devastating long-term consequences for our students.  I have to share it and add that, if teachers aren't allowed to lead the way in the edtech revolution, then who will? While some systems are blessed with administrators who are open to technology integration, not all are--and teachers heavily outweigh administrators.  Aren't grassroots movements sometimes the most successful?

The shutdown mentioned in the article sounds quite frustrating and counter-productive, but teachers need to keep our heads up and continue to find innovative ways to reach our students and parents with tools they use and social media sites they frequent--in order to teach them how to use these tools and sites responsibly.

Edcamp BMore - The Baltimore Edcamp Experience

     Yesterday I attended Edcamp Baltimore--Edcamp Bmore--Be More! Since it was my first true Edcamp experience, I was very excited to watch it all unfold (I went to Edscape last month in New Milford, NJ, which was amazing and had preplanned sessions, but I had never attended an Edcamp "unconference" before).  I met some incredible local educators that I hope to stay connected to, and I also met some of my PLN face-to-face, which is always very exciting.  The organizers of Edcamp Baltimore were nervous about whether the schedule would fill up with volunteers, but after just a few minutes, you could tell that would not be a problem - here's what their schedule ended up looking like after the planning phase.  I was excited and nervous to "lead" a session, but the unconference model helps alleviate that pressure because the session ends up being a conversation among educators asking questions, offering suggestions, and problem solving.  The energy at edcamps is truly contagious and invigorating, and it should be a model for our professional development days in school. 

     I took a lot away from the experience--I learned what it means to be a teacherprenuer (thanks to Andrew Coy, @andrewcoy, for the great discussion and opening my eyes to this concept).  It was fascinating to hear about events where teachers and techies meet up on a weekend and try to problem-solve and create apps or tools for the classroom.  I'm interested in trying out an EdTech meet-up soon in the Maryland region--maybe I'll create something really cool!  My big drive lately has been to create my own open-source AP US History text for my classroom, especially with the new College Board curriculum design rolling out next year.  Along with the teacherprenuer discussion, I was also able to participate in a discussion about how to take the Edcamp/unconference experience back to my school and help implement it in our school.  We discussed the possibility of resistance from staff and colleagues and some ways to counter that resistance, and we also heard successful implementation models from Reed Gillespie, @rggillespie, and Phil Griffins, @philgriffins, both administrators in schools in Virginia.  It was nice to see the example described from the top down, which I think can make the transistion easier.  Hopefully, I can help convince some of my colleagues to see the benefit of an unconference model--it is more valuable, participants have a buy-in because some of them are leading disucssions, and the energy that comes from the collaboration can help us refocus potential negative energy and morale issues in order to re-invigorate our teaching.  I think Mr. Gillespie said it best in his reflection on his edcamp-modeled professional development day--"Teachers were actively engaged, asking questions and taking notes as opposed to the traditional PD where teachers are grading papers, reading books, playing on their cell phones, crocheting, etc."

    Thanks so much to the Edcamp Baltimore Co-Founders Shannon Montague, @montysays, and Chris Shriver, @ccshriver - it was a wonderful experience, and I can't wait to participate again next year!
    
     Here's the wiki for Edcamps in the US--check it out!

Edscape Conference October 13, 2012

Yesterday was probably the most invigorating and exhausting day of professional development I have ever experienced.  After following people on Twitter since this summer who have been promoting the Edscape Conference in New Milford, New Jersey, I knew I had to sign up and see some of my favorite Tweeters in person because they have inspired me to make changes in my classroom - including Eric Sheninger (@NMHS_Principal), Tom Whitby (@tomwhitby), Vicky Davis (@coolcatteacher), Jerry Blumengarten (@cybraryman1).  They didn't let me down - I learned so much in such a short amount of time that it will take months for me to really process it all, but I will get there.

Vicki Davis (@coolcatteacher) was the keynote speaker for Edscape, and her hour-long talk felt like five minutes.  It was so powerful to hear her personal stories and the reminder that the only person I can change in education is ME - I can't change the standardized tests, the politicians that make education policy, or the access rules that the local informational technology office makes for my school district.  The only thing I can change is me.  This was such a powerful reminder, especially as I get into the fall/winter slump of cold weather and shorter days - the bane of my teaching existence. 

All of the tools and ideas I took away from yesterday's conference are a bit much for one blog post, but I will mention a couple.  Vicki's talk showed how she has her students converse with classrooms throughout the world and work with them on global projects - a flattened classroom as she calls it.  I would like to get my classroom to be a flattened classroom - to have my students interact with others throughout the county, the state, the nation, and the world.  One of the session presentations I went to was about Skyping and Google Hangouts presented by Bill Krakower (@wkrakower) - here's his blog post on his latest "Mystery Location Call" which is one way to flatten a classroom.  In his presentation, he demonstrated how to conduct a mystery location call in Goodle Hangouts by chatting with Jerry Blumengarten and Paula Naugle (@plnaugle).  I need to brainstorm on how to amp it up for a high school classroom, but I love the idea of Skyping or having a Google Hangout with an expert in history, or maybe even skyping a national park tour. 

I also learned about some tools that got me very excited about organizing all of my edtech/history content in one location.  There are LiveBinders (which I personally find to be a little unweildy and prefer using ones that are already made) and Evernote (which I love and use everyday to organize my lecture notes, historical research websites, and edtech tools), but I learned about Symbaloo, an organizational tool that puts tiles/buttons that link to my favorite websites that I can organize however I want - I can have a symbaloo for EdTech tools, one for the Revolutionary War era, one for the Jacksonian era, one for current events in history news, etc.  And the great thing about organizing things this way is I can create a public link to one of my symbaloos and link it to my class website - that way my students can use them for research and class projects.  I was so giddy in the presentation by Bruce Reicher (@breicher) yesterday that I almost screamed!!  Here's his public link to a symbaloo that explains how to use Symbaloo and Pinterest.

I don't know how far I'm going to get this year in incorporating all of the things I've learned from Twitter as well as Edscape, but I am going to try my best...because I can only change ME.  So far, I have my students blogging on a weekly or bimonthly basis (depending on the class) and using Twitter for extra credit outside of the classroom.  I'm taking baby steps, but I'm going to do my best because my kids deserve the best.

An Open Letter to Administrators

Dear Administrators,

You do not have to be tech-savvy to lead a school down the path of successful tech integration.  However, you do need to surround yourself with staff members who are tech fluent and willing to share. You also must be willing to collaborate with these staff members, and you must be charasmatic enough to get everyone on board with a shared mission of moving your school into the 21st century. 

My letter to you does not harp on that component as much as it harps on your tech literacy.  One major tip for you if you are an administrator who is not tech savvy--join Twitter.

• Every educator, at the very least, should have an active Twitter account. Gone are the days where email is the source of online connectivity.  Twitter is like a 24-hour professional development conference where everyone can actively participate and voice their opinions and input. Here is a short how-to to get you started. 
• When you are asked to create a username, keep it professional--first and last name, first initial and last name, last name only--any of these options should suffice.  Add a profile picture that is also professional or plays to your professional personality.
• Once you are on Twitter, follow some of the leaders in education on Twitter, especially Eric Sheninger (@NMHS_Principal), Will Richardson (@willrich45), Tom Whitby (@tomwhitby), Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo), Shelly Terrell (@ShellTerrell), and Vicki Davis (@coolcatteacher). These are my personal favorites...and in no particular order.
• Next, start following hashtags like #Edtech, #Edchat, #ce12.  These hashtags are for conversations in educational technology, general education, and conneced educators in 2012.  When you follow these hashtags, you will see a lot of people sharing tweets on these topics.  Join in the conversation, or "lurk" for a while and see if there are other educators in these conversations you would like to follow.
• Finally, take the things you learn on Twitter and apply them in the real world--get your department charimen and teacher-leaders involved in school change or school discussion on how to improve your school environment and shift toward a 21st century school.  Host weekly or bi-monthly tweet-ups with your staff to share concerns or developments in your school.  Your ability to show transparency in your communication with staff will go a long way in getting them on board with changes you wish to implement.

Again, you do not have to be tech savvy as an administrator in education today, but you should show an eagerness and willingness to learn and surround yourself with teacher-leaders who can step up to lead professional development in ways that engage the entire staff in technology education.  We must get our schools into the 21st century now because our students will suffer if we hesitate.

Is Our Education System Still Antiquated?

Last week, my department chair sent me the link to this YouTube clip by RSA Animate about our education system. As an American history teacher, I found it fascinating that our current education system was founded during the industrial age - an era where vertical and horizontal integration led to monopoly, and production was standardized - and many of our schools today look just like those of the late-19th and early-20th century. Of course I know this factually, but I'm surprised there has not been more change over that length of time so that we were not still practicing it. **(If you aren't interested in the history lesson, fast forward to around minute 8, which is really the message today.)

Standardization still sounds like an oft-used word in education today - standardized tests, standardized curriculum...and in my opinion, I'm not a huge fan. It seems to me like our goal at the federal level of government is to have our education system create the same product of the early model of education.  I hope that the Common Core will allow for more flexibility and creativity in the classroom so that this is not the case.

But locally, what can I do now to get my classroom looking less like this model and more like a 21st century classroom? This conversation is occurring all over Twitter & Facebook, but systemic change takes time. I hope I have a good answer for my classes once this school year gets going.

Students and Digital Citizenship

If there are any compelling reasons that students need to be taught digital citizenship, the infographic in this article--titled "14 Facts You Should Know About Text Messaging"--may have me convinced.  I'm a believer that parents should be monitoring their children's cell phone activity, but I may be naive about that since I don't have children.  What do you think?

Summertime, and the living's easy...

It's the middle of the summer, and I decided to start blogging about the upcoming school year.  I broke my leg at the end of the last school year, which led to 8 weeks on a couch recovering.  But, it also opened my eyes to the world of Twitter...and all of the things I can do in my classroom and in my school to help spark a tech revolution in my world.  With a new superintendent leading our county who is actively tweeting and blogging, I'm encouraged to get out of my comfort zone and experiment with new tech tools for the school year.  It's amazing how a leader can inspire change by opening doors of communication and leading by example.  I want to use this first post as a place to document the technologies and resources I want to use this school year.

Twitter has led to many professional development opportunities in the last few weeks that I would never have known about - and that I think many of my colleagues are missing out on!  As a passionate high school American history teacher, I love finding ways of connecting my students to the past through more engaging and interactive ways.  I have found new resources by following hashtags on Twitter like #sschat and #APUSHchat.  Every Monday night at 7pm (East Coast), people interested in a social studies chat come together for an hour.  The chat is co-led by two awesome leading educators, and chatters vote well in advance about the topic of the chat.  Every Tuesday night at the same time, AP US History teachers meet to discuss sharing materials and how to approach content--we are finding that if we can be a week ahead in discussion, we can be inspired each week as the school year progresses.  Educators, connecting across the country and sharing their resources or best practices--so much more valuable that the hours I have spent in PD the last six years.  A few new sites I am really excited about using this year for resources are EDSITEment, Teachinghistory.org, and Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.  I can't wait to learn more following the Twitter discussions throughout the school year.

Last week, I participated in a few webinars about integrating technology into the classroom with technology students already have.  The new move with technology is to use tech tools kids are already familiar with - their own.  It's called BYOD/BYOT: Bring your own device/technology.  In high school, this will be pretty easy to deal with--I can't tell you how many times I've caught students texting from their lap or their purse.  If I can get them to use the devices for learning, I think their perspective of their device will change, and they can open their minds to more creative, educational uses.  I hope to use Socrative in my classroom for drills, quick quizzes, or exit tickets, and I also see the use of Evernote for notebooks and organization will cut back on paper use.  I am also really excited to see the plethora of shared binders to peruse and add my own on LiveBinders.

With three weeks left, I want to narrow down my tech integration to a few new tools for my classroom, and I hope to use this blog as a place to reflect and record my experiences this school year.  I invite anyone to follow and comment on my reflections.  Here's to a new and exciting school year!