Conferences

I love conferences. Despite all the online connecting I do everyday through Twitter, listserves, email, and other social networking sites, there is something exhilarating about coming face-to-face with those you've interacted with online, as well as others, new people, who share their own passion for learning and for helping students to learn.

Storm Lake teachers, take the opportunity to attend TICL at BVU this summer. The district will pay your registration fee. Let me know, and I'll register you.

Take a look: http://www.ticl-ia.org/

Teachers who have attended in the past have come back ready to move to a new paradigm of teaching and learning. Ask them, and then let me know you want to go, too. You will be glad you did!

Dreams

It's funny how one gets so wrapped up in the community of EdTech supporters on Twitter that one forgets how many aren't even close to the same perspective on education. It's funny how one attends conferences on education and hears experts talk about project based learning and technology integration and self-directed learning and collaboration with others outside the school walls, and then forgets that others still believe in getting back to basics with closed door classrooms, pencil and paper, drill and practice, and textbooks. It's funny how one pushes teachers to adapt learning to incorporate the vast wealth of opportunities found in a global, connected world only to experience hesitation from the same forces that pushed teachers to change but now panic when they have.

Maybe it's not so funny.

The Power of Teachers

I was asked to attend the High School English PLC meeting today where they explained to the superintendent why their students need access to Chromebooks in their classrooms all day long. It was a powerful presentation that made the advantages of students having access to devices all day every day very clear. The things these teachers are having their students do through Google Apps, Google Chrome, Schoology, and other websites is educationally sound, and the examples of student work they showed were excellent. Both these teachers and their students have seen the advantages:

• Differentiation
• Collaboration
• Organization
• Accessibility
• Formative assessment
• Accountability
• Feedback
• Higher Order Thinking
• Creativity
• The ease of revising
• The power of writing daily
• Fact checking at one's fingertips
• Tools like dictionaries, text to speech, and language translators
• And so much more

I don't think it's overstating things to say that this was a profound moment for these teachers, and I feel privileged that I was able to witness it. These teachers understand that education is changing. These teachers are willing to let go of the reins and let their students work together and learn from one another. These teachers are challenging each other to be better teachers. These teachers are willing to do the upfront work to continue to change their classrooms.

As a techonology director, I've been preaching these things for years, but there is nothing like the power of a teacher. I am always inspired when I get to watch groups of teachers who have seen the light and are ready to fight for what should change. I sign every email I send with:

A huge Internet pipe, robust wireless, and mobile Internet connected devices in as many students' hands as possible. A teacher who loves to learn, learns new things regularly, and models that love of learning to students. Student-centered classrooms. It's that simple (and that complicated)!

I saw this in our High School English teachers today, and I am proud.

Character Counts: Citizenship

I had the privilege to be a part of the Storm Lake Elementary School Character Counts assembly today. The pillar for the month was Citizenship, and my small part was to talk to the students briefly about Digital Citizenship. Now, you have to realize that I spend most of my educational time these days with adult learners. The opportunity to talk to kindergarten through fourth graders was very special. From the Pledge of Allegiance, to the Star Spangled Banner, to the fired up teachers with the purple stars, to the press box of students taking pictures and videos of the event, to the high school students who came in their uniforms and costumes from all the activities they are involved in to encourage the young students to get involved in the SLCSD community, to the sea of purple representing good citizenship, to the cheering and the wave, to the little students shouting out answers to my questions during my short presentation, it was a truly moving experience. I suppose I am nostalgic because my babies are eighteen years old and graduating from high school this year, but I think it's more than that. It's the very special nature of the Storm Lake Community Schools and the love and dedication of the teachers, the students, the administrators, the staff members, and all the community stakeholders. There are so many who dream such big dreams for the future of these kids. Good citizens one and all!

The Chromebooks are Here!

We've tested a few Chromebooks in the district over the past year, but now we have thirty to really give us data about their suitability for student devices. We will scatter ten of them throughout the district for teachers and students to test, and we have deployed twenty in the ELL room at the HS. Mrs. Green, Mrs. Hernandez, and their students couldn't be happier! They are the ones who did the initial Chromebook testing, so they know the Chromebooks are what they need.

After using a Chromebook for a long time myself, my prediction is that our other teachers and students will love the devices, too, once they get a chance to test them out.

EdTech Day

The day has finally arrived. Looking forward to teachers and administrators learning, sharing, and creating. This is what teachers do when kids are home - Learning to be better teachers, learning to let go and let students learn:

SLCSD EdTech Day Website

Go, Tornadoes!

EdTech Day for Teachers and Administrators

Monday, Jan. 21, 2013, is going to be an exciting day in the Storm Lake Community School District. All teachers and administrators will be gathering for the third full day of EdTech professional development in just over a year. EdTech learning, collaboration, and classroom planning are the work for the day. The goal of the day is increased student use of technology for learning content/curriculum. The major technology tools we will focus on are Google Apps; Google Chrome; SmartBoards and Student Response Systems; Blogging, Twitter, and Digital Storytelling; and Edmodo and Schoology. Both students and teachers are currently using all of these things in different classrooms in the district. The purpose of the day is to both increase teacher and administrator knowledge of how to use the various technologies and also to share all the ways these technologies can be used by students and/or whole classrooms for learning. Online collaboration and reaching outside the four walls of the school to learn are a major focus.

This EdTech Day is organized a little differently than the past two EdTech Days. This time the morning will be spent in the teachers' own buildings in PLC groups accessing a website created specifically for the day. It is full of resources and collaborative opportunities for the teachers and administrators. Each PLC will decide as a group what to focus on, because we believe strongly in differentiating PD to accommodate teachers with different needs. In the afternoon, teachers will gather at the high school for the opportunity to step out of their small PLC groups and work with others from all over the district who are focusing on the same EdTech integration strategies. "Expert" teacher facilitators are assigned to the various EdTech tools, and they will share their knowledge and classroom examples, but they will also just be available to assist with the work of their peers as they develop their plans for their own students.

Keep an eye out for our EdTech Day hashtag on Twitter: #sltech. We're hoping for a very active day of sharing resources and back channeling about our learning.