Field Trips and A Teaching Goal

Another week down, and more fun planned for my students! Here's what I'm working on this weekend and the coming weeks:

Transdisciplinary Field Experience:

This is the third year that I will be collaborating with other 11th grade US History and American Literature teachers to take about 100 11th graders to the Smithsonian for a Transdisciplinary Field Experience - a big field trip.  We met as a team yesterday to start the process of constructing the different experiences the students can choose from (they will get about 7 options) and they will follow a set agenda for the day. Options now include Espionage&The Cold War, Journalism and Headlines fromUS History, War in American History, The Native American&African American Experience, Atrocities and Oppression-Focus on the Holocaust and the Jewish-American Experience. These are currently a work in progress. Each option has an agenda and students are to keep a field journal and record artifacts to bring back to the school house for a project. Their options for the project usually center around a Prezi, creating a unique document based question using their artifacts, a persuasive essay, or some other multimedia presentation. I'm open to suggestions from anyone! My goal with a field trip is to bring information and learning back into the classroom and create new media and new student-generated material. The students have really enjoyed the trip in past years, and I love following our # on Instagram and Twitter to see student excitement. I'll be making up the # shortly before the trip in March. 

Smithsonian Night:

Last week my husband & I went to the annual Free Teachers' Night offered by the Smithsonian - we came back with so many awesome resources that I combined into one document arranged by content (I added a couple that aren't Smithsonian-related links, but I found on Twitter last week). https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArQC0FTQVLgjdHkwSEU2MUFnRExxak13enE1YjRQa3c&usp=docslist_api

I also sent this to my staff development teacher in the hopes we'll be able to create more staff-suggested content. 

(We were at the Natural History Museum for Teachers' Night)

University Research Project:

I'm also in the planning stages of taking my students to two local universities in order to learn how to authentically research a topic on American History (and those skills will transfer to all contents). I struggle with student research skills - it's my responsibility to teach them how to research correctly and validate scholarly sources (not just Google), but electronics are at their fingertips and they have the ability to find any content anywhere (I'm acutely aware of this as I type this blog post from my phone). I have introduced them to our public school's online databases for research, and in the past I stressed the importance of having a public library card to access their databases. I need more guidance in this realm. I know how to research correctly, and most of that came through self-learning as I was part of the first generation to use the internet for research purposes in college. Not having it modeled for me is leaving me a little lost - again, suggestions are welcome. Anyway, I am in the process of planning this trip - I would ultimately love to have my students be published historians before they leave my classroom! This will be a long term goal of mine. 

*The answer is probably to Google how to teach research skills and I'll be able to cull through suggestions until I find an appropriate suggestion. 

Ok - happy Saturday, and happy learning!

Edscape, Edcamp BMore, and Other Stuff

Well, it's been a while since I've blogged, mostly because I am rarely in front of a computer anymore, save for putting grades into Edline. So, when I saw Blogger had an app, I realized it was time to bite the bullet and get back into it. I'm always on my phone for almost all interactions, so it just feels right!

What I've been up to: 

I attended Edscape October 19th in New Jersey at New Milford High School. Eric Sheninger (@NMHS_Principal) hosts a fantastic conference with great break-out sessions, including a short tutorial to iBooks Author (which I was desperate for - I have been dreading sitting through hours of video to watch how to use it). The highlight for me though was listening to George Couros (@gcouros) speak - it made it so evident how desperate I have been to have true inspirational leaders in my educational experience. Eric and George spoke during the #satchat session about the challenges of giving autonomy to teachers who might not have the buy-in to the changes they implement in their school - listening to their answers and reading their blogs/tweets...well, I want to be that inspiring to my students and colleagues. 

A few weeks later, Edcamp BMore was on tap. I joined the Edcamp BMore (Baltimore) Planning Committee (@edcampbaltimore) this summer - it was AWESOME to be with such a great group of women who are passionate about teacher growth. I learned so much from Shannon (@montysays), Chris (@ccshriver), Margaret (@teachingdaisy), Jenna (@teachbaltshaw), and Molly (@historyfriend), particularly how exciting it is to plan an event that ultimately runs itself due to participant-driven break-out sessions. 

We planned a lot and for many months in advance, but nothing is better than watching what all the educators who attend bring to the "unconference."  One of my favorite moments was the session on building relationships to foster school change facilitated by an assistant principal at Edgewood High School, Brad Spence (@therealbspence) https://docs.google.com/a/gfs.org/document/d/1e3kZRpXgpv2Osu8JmlEv2LZWTk0xQoq9yeOyzzkJEK4/edit?pli=1

I was so excited about the info I learned here that I immediately shared it with our Advisory Planning Staff at Pikesville High School. We've been struggling to know the best way to build relationships between staff and students, and among the student population as well. The videos Brad showed that his school put together were so inspiring and really energized our Advisory Leaders. We hope we will get permission to implement them in our school. 

Other Fun Facts: 

The last few weeks I've been absorbed with the PHS Boys Soccer Team - they're in the MD 1A State Championship Game this Thursday, so many of my students are pumped for that. I love my students and hope that they know it - they're awesome and each individually unique. I have had the privilege of teaching some of them for the third year of their high school experiences - it's been a true blessing to be able to see them mature before my eyes. 

Ok - blogging is back!! Let's hope I can stick with it!

Happy Fall!!

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.