This summer I had the opportunity to teach and learn at the EPISD Blended Learning Conference. Blended learning is a blend of face to face and on-line learning that allows students some control of the time and place, their learning path and pace. Essentially, if you begin small, blended learning can give a teacher more time for small group targeted instruction, allow for personalized instruction, can foster student agency, and the opportunity for students to have authentic audiences.
Catlin Tucker was the Keynote for our district Blended Learning Conference, organized by the Instructional Technology Team. We were so excited to have her, because she relates well with teachers. She is a teacher!
Catlin Tucker agreed to meet up for an on-line interview. We shared a few of the videos with teachers leading up to our conference to create a little excitement about her visit to EPISD. I've linked them below.
I've challenged myself to Sketchnote this year. Taking the time to go back to my notes and finish up a Sketchnote after a Keynote has been a great way for me to review and organize my thoughts. Here is the Sketchnote I created after listening to Catlin Tucker inspire our teachers.
This was the first EdCamp I attended outside of El Paso, TX. An EdCamp is a free, unconference. The educators in the room determine what the sessions will be and what they would like to share. If you walk into a session and the conversation doesn’t feed you, it is understood that it is not an insult to leave and find a session that is right for you. YAY! You get to be in charge of what you want to learn.
The Meeting Room
Each participant received a blue and a yellow post it note. You could write down a topic that you felt confident facilitating on the blue note, or a topic you wanted to learn more about on the yellow note.
For those who wanted a digital version of a schedule, Guidebook, sponsored the event by providing access for free. We just downloaded the app and scanned a QR to get the schedule.
Tweep Board
Flipped Classroom with Shea Regian Forney ISD
Homework has never been the same. With a flipped classroom, students learn the basics and mechanics at home by watching a video and do the work/practice/projects in class. Shea shared her experience and how the flipped classroom works in her 8th grade math classes. Read more about this session here.
Build your Own App
Yapp Box is a free app that can be used to create your own app for the classroom. It could be an app for a tech tips. You can add buttons on the bottom for pages to twitter feed or a photo gallery. It’s definately an app I will explore.
Hacking the Classroom
I snuck into this session so I missed the beginning. Aimee Bartis was sharing how her class is hacking the tech apps classroom. You can read her student’s blog and experiences at http://hackingtechapps.blogspot.com. They love comments. If you have time, leave one for her students.
Genius Hour
Martha Lacy shared what Genius Hour looks like in her classroom. She said it’s important to decide when and how often genius hour would be. To me, genius hour in her classroom seemed like a time to for students to create and integrate technology. I loved Martha’s student examples, how well her elementary students collaborated with Google Docs and how excited she was about the students progress. My favorite take away was the keynote story her students created.
Leadership and 1:1 with Greg Gardener
Greg facilitated a discussion to see where everyone was with 1:1. I decided to attend this session because I work with a campus that will be going 1:1 iPads next school year. I feel that not enough conversation is happening and not enough planning and preparation is in place. Read more here.
App Smash or Smack Down Click on the link to view the list of things shared during the Smack Down. It was awesome! Tellagami is one of the free apps that were shared. I created one very quickly.
I went to EdCampDallas this weekend and enjoyed the conversation in this session. I work with a campus that will be going 1:1 iPads next school year. I feel that not enough conversation is happening and not enough planning or preparation is in place.
Greg facilitated a discussion to see where everyone was with 1:1 and said,“You cannot over plan a 1:1 roll out.” He recommended having an iPad Oath, a moral document for students in addition to the legal acceptable use policy. If it is not on file, they take the iPad from the student and the signed document magically appears. You will find other resources that might be helpful on the West Ridge Middle School Website.
WestRidge Middle School in Austin, TX began their roll out by assigning each teacher an iPad. Teachers were to learn how to use them, because it was coming and each student would have one. It became very clear that it was not an option.
What you should know before the roll out
8th graders will do whatever it takes to break the restrictions. Campuses handled this differently. One treated it as a disciplinary problem. One treated it as an instructional problem. If you don’t have the apps you need to learn, there is a problem. There was “juice bar” that students could visit and have the apps and restrictions placed back onto the iPad. It's probably a good idea to think about how you will handle it before it happens. You can not over plan a 1:1 roll out.
As the group added input, one participant said they researched before 1:1 deployment. He mention that research says to have a successful roll out, you must educate the teachers and the parents.
Educate, Educate, Educate
Parents and Teachers need to know that they are in charge. They need to take the responsibility of being the teacher or parent and think about things that will happen and how to handle situations that arise.
If a teacher has difficulty with classroom management, the teacher probably had trouble with it before the 1 to 1 roll out. If a parent had trouble being an authoritative parent before a technology device was introduced, they will still have trouble after.
Greg says that he reminds the teacher that they are still the teacher and reminds the parent that they are the parent. He also said, "If a teacher is ineffective before a 1:1 roll out, they will still be ineffective with the 1:1. The technology just puts a big spotlight on it."
It was said, "you can’t over communicate with parents." Talk with them about the options. Share what an 8th grader will be doing with technology in their bedroom, door closed till 1 in the morning. Talk with them about how to avoid that. Talk with them about changing wifi codes, unplugging the wireless router at bed time, a place to leave the device after a set time, how to be a parent that monitors their child on the internet. Be the parent and stand your ground.
Leadership
Greg also talked about the leadership role. If you are in a leadership position, you must remember that you are the leader. You will need to have tough conversations. It must be understood that the 1:1 roll out is not an option. If a parent wants to opt out, it’s a cop out. He mentioned that one parent, bought a safe and had his child lock the iPad in it at when they got home. The parent would unlock the safe in the morning and allow his child to take it to school.
Option
The school district Greg works with allowed students, grades 6-12 to take the iPad home over the summer if they paid the insurance. Insurance was outsourced for the district. K-5 students didn’t have the option to take it home over the summer.
My Thoughts
This session was worth it for me. Hearing what others experienced as they began a 1:1 roll out share was valuable. It’s never to early to plan for it. Thanks for sharing, Greg!
I attended this session at EdCampDallas to learn more about the Flipped Classroom.
Homework has never been the same. With a flipped classroom, students learn the basics and mechanics at home and do the work/practice/projects in class. Shea shared her experience and how the flipped classroom works in her 8th grade math classes.
She recommends using whatever technology you have to create the tutorials, Promethean or SMART Recorder, computer webcam, document camera, iPad (camera, Educreations, Explain Everything), or screen cast tool. Shea uses One-Note to get the job done.
She explained that when she first began creating her videos she was a “talking head” and it would take her 30 minutes to create a video because she was looking for perfection. Now, creating the video takes a few minutes and she doesn’t worry about perfection because making mistakes and correcting them is a part of a regular classroom. Some teachers in the group commented that they give extra points to students who catch a mistake while watching a flipped lesson for homework. Shea is no longer a talking head anymore, she uses the sheets with examples and works them out during the flipped lesson.
What it looks like in Shea’s Room
Day 1-
(In Class) Students don’t get a choice. She tells the class that homework is not an option. On the first day of the unit, she spends class time with the name of the unit, asking students what it sounds like to them, includes informal and formal language, and spends time talking about vocabulary. When they go home, they spend 3-6 minutes watching the basics. She always uses the terminology and vocabulary in her videos and in class. Students are required to take good notes while they watch the flipped lesson.
Day 2-
(Class time)- Shea spends time giving her explanation, appling the algebra to the real world and how students will use it in algebra II and geometry. She also takes time to teach students how to take notes for homework. Students know what she expects to see.
Review Night- These are the longest videos. She usually will film 4 to 6 videos for the review. If the class does the review, they get a free question on the test.
What if you have problems?
Shea says it's okay to revert back to the old way if something goes wrong. Things will happen. It could be a bad storm and the internet is out for the entire neighborhood. It’s okay to do it the old way for a day.
Students didn't do their homework? It's not an option. They will do their homework. Her room is open at 7:45 in the morning and for a time period after school for students to come in and complete their homework. Students can go to the library and complete it there or even use their personal mobile devices. Shea knows who completed homework by completing a quick walk while students have their notebooks open on the desks. She checks them first thing. If the notes are good, they move on to the lesson. If the notes are not good enough or have none, they go to the back of the room to complete it. The computers students can use in class are slow and the chairs are uncomfortable. Shea doesn’t try to create a perfect situation for them. She mentioned that there was only one situation where a student proved she didn’t have a way to complete homework at home, before or after school. Shea worked with her and a few of her teachers to allow her to leave a class a few minutes early to come sit in the back of the room to complete it daily.
Grading
Homework is 10% of the grade. If students do it, they get a 100. If they complete it outside of the notebook it's a 90 until they cut it out and glue it in. Students who didn't complete the homework before class can earn a 70 once it is complete.
Our instructional technology group was invited to present at the 9th Annual ABC Conference, A Better Beginning Conference, held at the University of Texas at El Paso. It's a small conference that is put together for novice and mentor teachers in our area. This conference was complete with a keynote, snacks, ed tech sessions, and a nice lunch to honor a novice and mentor teacher of the year.
The Keynote- Colby Smart
I took the time to look up our Keynote, Colby Smart and follow him on Twitter. I'm always excited to meet someone new and learn from their experiences. I have to say that the most exciting part about this Keynote was the interaction. Colby had Todaysmeet.com open. He had set up a room for us to share our ideas as he presented his belief and ideas about technology integration.
Colby talked about a small school he works with, Weitchpec: Yurok Immersion School and the importance of keeping their native Yurok Language apart of the learning. The language is a very important part of the community. He asked the audience to talk with each other and suggest ways they could use technology to help the students learn the language. Here are some of the responses from the audience.
Technology Integration & Apps Teachers Love
Sherita and I teamed up to present during this session.
For me, this was my chance to share what technology integration looks like. I think it is important to know when you enter the classroom. I wanted novice teachers to know what 21st Century Learning is and that student created content is great evidence of technology integration. I shared the three tiers of technology integration and what they look like in the classroom. I wanted teachers to know that having a set of iPads or visiting the computer lab for 45 minutes a week did not mean that technology was being integrated effectively. I have seen teachers visit the computer lab for 45 minutes each week, ask students to go to the same game website all year long, and then sit down and check their email or surf the web for resources. When I see this, the students are not excited about the learning and it appears to be a break for everyone.
I shared my experience as a new teacher. I admitted that I did what everyone else did. I took my class to the computer lab weekly. The paraprofessional in the lab told my students to pick a CD and play a game on the computer. The games were educational, but random. I didn't realize that I could say, "no." I didn't realize that I could take them to the computer lab at that time and let them publish a piece of writing, blog, try out a few science simulations, or connect to a global audience. It wasn't obvious to me. I shared a few things that students have created on the iPad.
3D Shapes with Animoto- 4th grade students collected pictures of 3D shapes around the classroom. They got together and used the Animoto App to build a slide show that shared attributes of each shape.
Try our slideshow maker at Animoto.
Rhyming Words with Puppet Pals HD Director's Pass- 1st grade students were given a scavenger hunt list of words and had to find and photograph words that rhymed with it in the room. After, they used puppets and their voice to share the rhyming words.
Fog Fanner with Puppet Pals HD Director's Pass- I created this with my first grader at home. We had several foggy days in our city. My daughter had an idea for an invention that would make it easier to see while driving to school. We had to use Puppet Pals HD to create it.
Sherita shared these iPad Management and Apps that teachers love. Check out It's All Good! to read her Blog. Here are the awesome apps she shared with the teachers during the session. They are are on her Resource Spot.
Group Photo of the team that presented from EPISD.
I don't want to forget the things I am presenting, learning, or
attending. Blogging is becoming my way to document and remember. :)
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