PD for Teachers (Like Students Do It)
I know that I sometimes rely on a few great bloggers for ideas to share. Will Richardson has just come up with the best idea he has had for a while! I love this. I have copy and pasted his words for you to read. I will do this for PD on our staff for sure.
"Here’s an idea for your next PD day around technology (assuming you’ve already started a conversation around social learning tools and curricular change…no small assumption, I know.)
Step 1: Put up a wiki page with a list of interesting tools that teachers might use in the classroom, fairly complete descriptions of what the tool can do, and a few links to great examples of use in the classrooms. Ask teachers to read through the descriptions and sign up for the sessions that interest them. Schedule sessions in rooms with computers and internet access. Only run those sessions that have at least four people signed up for it.
Step 2: When people arrive in the rooms where the sessions are scheduled, write this on the board, whiteboard, smartboard, etc: “YOU HAVE 90 MINUTES. FIGURE IT OUT.”
You have a more effective PD model?
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Thursday, September 30, 2010
Kim Cofino blogs about technology and curriculum
Kim Cofino is one of my favorite bloggers. She was at a school in Bangkok and now she is in a new position in Japan. I find this refreshing because she is in a new grade 6 classroom teaching a technology course that has never been offered before at that school. Need I mention that she is a keynote speaker for the 2011 K-12 on-line conference. Even the most accomplished people have to start over again from time to time. I think she is having fun with this!!
Her post is about a self study where their IT group got together and came up with ideas as to how technology should be integrated with curricula. They came up with the following list. She has asked for our/your advice on which are the essential ones. Please go to her blog to help her out. I have highlighted in bold what I think are the most important ones.
1.Curriculum design and delivery are consistent with the school’s technology philosophy, objectives and policies.
2.Written curriculum materials specify expected learning outcomes for meaningful technology integration.
3.The curriculum encourages students to leverage technology resources to meet the needs of their learning styles.
4.The curriculum emphasizes the responsible use of social media to promote digital citizenship.
5.The curriculum includes technology rich experiences articulated horizontally and vertically.
6.There is clear designation of responsibility for effective and well articulated integration of technology into the curriculum.
7.The curriculum provides opportunities for students to utilize technology to document and reflect on their learning over time as a means to promote life long learning.
8.The school provides PD to promote new ideas and approaches to effective technology integration.
9.Teachers manage digital learning environments to engage students in collaboration with others beyond classroom walls.
10.Current technology resources are provided to promote effective teaching and learning.
11.Sufficient academic technology professionals are assigned to facilitate effective technology integration.
12.Sufficient technical and infrastructure specialists are assigned to support effective technology integration.
13.Social and ethical use of technology & information is clearly defined and communicated to students and parents.
14.Staff members consider current technological advances in revising curriculum and instruction.
OK, so you think I'm messing with you? I could not find a single item that didn't deserve bold in my mind. Can you? Let Kim know if you can.
Her post is about a self study where their IT group got together and came up with ideas as to how technology should be integrated with curricula. They came up with the following list. She has asked for our/your advice on which are the essential ones. Please go to her blog to help her out. I have highlighted in bold what I think are the most important ones.
1.Curriculum design and delivery are consistent with the school’s technology philosophy, objectives and policies.
2.Written curriculum materials specify expected learning outcomes for meaningful technology integration.
3.The curriculum encourages students to leverage technology resources to meet the needs of their learning styles.
4.The curriculum emphasizes the responsible use of social media to promote digital citizenship.
5.The curriculum includes technology rich experiences articulated horizontally and vertically.
6.There is clear designation of responsibility for effective and well articulated integration of technology into the curriculum.
7.The curriculum provides opportunities for students to utilize technology to document and reflect on their learning over time as a means to promote life long learning.
8.The school provides PD to promote new ideas and approaches to effective technology integration.
9.Teachers manage digital learning environments to engage students in collaboration with others beyond classroom walls.
10.Current technology resources are provided to promote effective teaching and learning.
11.Sufficient academic technology professionals are assigned to facilitate effective technology integration.
12.Sufficient technical and infrastructure specialists are assigned to support effective technology integration.
13.Social and ethical use of technology & information is clearly defined and communicated to students and parents.
14.Staff members consider current technological advances in revising curriculum and instruction.
OK, so you think I'm messing with you? I could not find a single item that didn't deserve bold in my mind. Can you? Let Kim know if you can.
Monday, September 27, 2010
School as a video game?!
Have you ever wondered how you could incorporate video games into your classroom? The debate as to their effectiveness and curricular rigor may forever be ended by the video below.
Are Violent Video Games Adequately Preparing Children For The Apocalypse?
I love that video! It is a wonderful parody, poking fun at both children who play too much and adults who fear them.
How do you use them in your class? I have had limited success and I feel like I have so much to learn. I have had some success with "26 learning games for change" from Mission to Learn. These games are just great games for the classroom. Their goals are global education and social action. Some will not grab the students right away or at all, others require the player to learn the mechanics of the game to be able to get the larger point of the game.
Watch the video below from the New York Times about the program Quest to Learn, where students learn from playing and making video games. I was so intrigued by this school that I looked on the website to become a teacher there and will be contacting them to find out what I can learn from them to incorporate into my classroom.
Will Richardson has written a post on video games in school and is worth reading for his thoughts. The New York Times has written an informative article (with many links) about video games as/in school. They have two links to who they call "the guru of games in education", James Paul Gee. In them, he answers FAQ's (FAQ1, FAQ2) about games in the classroom. The New York Times article mentions the innovative program, the institute of play. The institute of play is out of Minnesota and has the following mission statement:
"We promote GAMING LITERACY: the play, analysis, and creation of games, as a foundation for learning, innovation, and change in the 21st century. Through a variety of programs centered on game design, the Institute engages audiences of all ages, exploring new ways to think, act, and speak through gaming in a social world."
In conclusion to this rather long post, this is all very exciting and interesting! Just what am I supposed to do with all of it? Here's what I figured out. I am going to look at some of the games these folks are playing in school and try to learn them (or get my kids to!). I will also contact some of the people from these programs to see where I should start. Here is my list of games I got from James Paul Gee's FAQ.
flower- playstation
flow- free
alice- 3d animation download
storytelling alice- 3d animation download
gamestar mechanic- designing games, free
scratch- designing games- download
kodu- designing games- download
little big planet- PS3
David Williamson Shaffer’s How Computer Games Help Children Learn (book)
world of warcraft- free trial
filament games- many free games, ecology, government, landforms, etc.
i-civics- U.S. govt.
sims- simulation download
portal- $20 U.S.
braid- pay download
second life- free basic download
guitar hero
resilient planet- download
quest atlantis- 1 hour free, $6.99 download
dimension m- paid download
age of mythology- paid download
harvest moon
drop 7- itunes app
peace maker- $20 download
world of goo- $6.99 download
chibi-robo- Nintendo download
Are Violent Video Games Adequately Preparing Children For The Apocalypse?
I love that video! It is a wonderful parody, poking fun at both children who play too much and adults who fear them.
How do you use them in your class? I have had limited success and I feel like I have so much to learn. I have had some success with "26 learning games for change" from Mission to Learn. These games are just great games for the classroom. Their goals are global education and social action. Some will not grab the students right away or at all, others require the player to learn the mechanics of the game to be able to get the larger point of the game.
Watch the video below from the New York Times about the program Quest to Learn, where students learn from playing and making video games. I was so intrigued by this school that I looked on the website to become a teacher there and will be contacting them to find out what I can learn from them to incorporate into my classroom.
Will Richardson has written a post on video games in school and is worth reading for his thoughts. The New York Times has written an informative article (with many links) about video games as/in school. They have two links to who they call "the guru of games in education", James Paul Gee. In them, he answers FAQ's (FAQ1, FAQ2) about games in the classroom. The New York Times article mentions the innovative program, the institute of play. The institute of play is out of Minnesota and has the following mission statement:
"We promote GAMING LITERACY: the play, analysis, and creation of games, as a foundation for learning, innovation, and change in the 21st century. Through a variety of programs centered on game design, the Institute engages audiences of all ages, exploring new ways to think, act, and speak through gaming in a social world."
In conclusion to this rather long post, this is all very exciting and interesting! Just what am I supposed to do with all of it? Here's what I figured out. I am going to look at some of the games these folks are playing in school and try to learn them (or get my kids to!). I will also contact some of the people from these programs to see where I should start. Here is my list of games I got from James Paul Gee's FAQ.
I know just the student I am going to put onto this! I'll let you know how it goes.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Richard Halkett part 6
Alan November has interviewed Richard Halkett the 6th time. This time the topic was what schools need to do to be 21st century schools. He makes four main points:
- creating new educational partners- schools need to look for new partners in the community and in the business world as schools evolve into 21st century schools
- formalizing informal projects- some of the products and projects already being taken on in schools will need to be highlighted and formalized in terms of the curricula, assessment, etc.
- reform assessment to reflect 21st century skills
- drive innovation and dissemination of new practices-classrooms and classroom teachers are extraordinary innovators! What schools are not good at is sharing and dissemination of innovation. Schools need to come up with methods to "kill" bad ideas and to nurture the good ideas.
He makes the foreboding statement that schools need to make these changes from within. The implication that the changes will inevitably be made from outside. Reminds me of the quote, "Change before you have to!"
He also calls for the revamping of the preparation of our leaders. He says school leaders are very capable and enthusiastic, but we need a more effective management process so that the capacity and urgency to change is enabled.
He mentions two sites to visit for ideas:
Both sites are full of great information which will help you with your quest to be a 21st century school!
Celebrating Success 1: 21st Century at Confed.
The other day I felt quite down about our rate of progress towards becoming a 21st century school. Change in schools can be slow, perhaps more than other industries. We had a quick staff meeting where our technology group was given a short period of time to show staff how to set up an RSS feed or google reader. We wanted time to get every staff person to create their own. I really felt that if we just talked to them, no one would carry through and program their own feed. Not enough time and nobody interested. I wanted everybody to use the feed to assist them in their professional learning, just as I use mine.
The next day, one of our wonderfully gifted resource room teachers came into my room and wanted help setting up a google reader. My intern helped her to do that in a few minutes. I told her that she could now subscribe to this very blog as a start. She explained that she had susbscribed to my class blog instead! At first I was disappointed.
I then realized the beauty of her idea. Three times a week she comes into our room to help children with the writing process. Much of the writing we do is blogging. (learn, communicate, build a learning network) By setting up an RSS feed to our blog, every time a student writes something it is sent to her reader and she can comment, encourage and collaborate with students almost instantaneously! The beauty of the idea is that I didn't even think of it before.
An ingenious idea which was not possible until the age of technology. The students win as they increase their readership, the teachers win because the technology makes their job easier.
I'm looking forward to celebrating more successful steps to becoming a 21st century school!
The next day, one of our wonderfully gifted resource room teachers came into my room and wanted help setting up a google reader. My intern helped her to do that in a few minutes. I told her that she could now subscribe to this very blog as a start. She explained that she had susbscribed to my class blog instead! At first I was disappointed.
I then realized the beauty of her idea. Three times a week she comes into our room to help children with the writing process. Much of the writing we do is blogging. (learn, communicate, build a learning network) By setting up an RSS feed to our blog, every time a student writes something it is sent to her reader and she can comment, encourage and collaborate with students almost instantaneously! The beauty of the idea is that I didn't even think of it before.
An ingenious idea which was not possible until the age of technology. The students win as they increase their readership, the teachers win because the technology makes their job easier.
I'm looking forward to celebrating more successful steps to becoming a 21st century school!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
ISTE's Critieria for Success
The ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) gives awards to individuals who are technology innovators. They list the criteria for success on their web page. Classroom technology innovators should:
1. Apply available technology now
2. Move forward and don't look back
3. See students as real people
4. Teach through relationships, inspiring, encouraging, nurturing
5. Recognize that further change is necessary, but understand that it is a process
6. Realize that teacher empowerment is the key element to technology integration
7. Expect success
8. Motivate through awareness and access to information
How are you and your people doing?
1. Apply available technology now
2. Move forward and don't look back
3. See students as real people
4. Teach through relationships, inspiring, encouraging, nurturing
5. Recognize that further change is necessary, but understand that it is a process
6. Realize that teacher empowerment is the key element to technology integration
7. Expect success
8. Motivate through awareness and access to information
How are you and your people doing?
Can We Change Schools?
Will Richardson has found a great quote and put it on his blog. You can read it below, but I would rather you go to his post and read it for yourself!
"It is the thesis of this book that change—constant, accelerating, ubiquitous—is the most striking characteristic of the world we live in and that our educational system has not yet recognized this fact. We maintain, further, that the abilities and attitudes required to deal adequately with change are those of the highest priority and that it is not beyond our ingenuity to design school environments which can help young people to master concepts necessary to survival in a rapidly changing world. The institution we call “school” is what it is because we made it that way. If it is irrelevant…if it shields children from reality…if it educates for obsolescence…if it does not develop intelligence…if it is based on fear…if it avoids the promotion of significant learnings…if it induces alienation…if it punishes creativity and independence…if, in short, it is not doing what needs to be done, it can be changed; it must be changed."
Neil Postman
Teaching as a Subversive Activity 1968
As Will asks, "Can it?"
"It is the thesis of this book that change—constant, accelerating, ubiquitous—is the most striking characteristic of the world we live in and that our educational system has not yet recognized this fact. We maintain, further, that the abilities and attitudes required to deal adequately with change are those of the highest priority and that it is not beyond our ingenuity to design school environments which can help young people to master concepts necessary to survival in a rapidly changing world. The institution we call “school” is what it is because we made it that way. If it is irrelevant…if it shields children from reality…if it educates for obsolescence…if it does not develop intelligence…if it is based on fear…if it avoids the promotion of significant learnings…if it induces alienation…if it punishes creativity and independence…if, in short, it is not doing what needs to be done, it can be changed; it must be changed."
Neil Postman
Teaching as a Subversive Activity 1968
As Will asks, "Can it?"
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