The silver lining in the budget crisis

Last week, my school (Cleveland High School) engaged in the first useful PD session of my nine year career. A teacher sent an open letter to the staff asking why we were allowing budget cuts to destroy our school. She argued that discipline had decreased and garbage levels (messes left after nutrition and lunch) increased because most teachers had given up on our school. She demanded that we take back our school and set high standards for student behavior, achievement and cooperativeness. More teachers began responding, and our PD committee took action by forming groups to tackle specific issues within our control.

Our teachers are not waiting for Superman. We realize that we only lose power when we refuse to speak up and take action. I salute that brave teacher for inspiring all of us to take back our campus for the sake of our students and ourselves. Without the budget cuts, we probably would not have been shaken out of our slumber. At times, we need a crisis to wake us up and make us realize how much power we have to make changes to our school environment.


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Utilizing What I Found On Twitter Today

http://edutraining.googleapps.com/

This is a great site for introducing teachers and students to Google Docs. I need to utilize this for PD and for group assignments for Phil and Art History. I need to make these available for students on my wiki for each class.

http://www.emergingedtech.com/2009/04/10-internet-technologies-that-educators-should-be-informed-about/

This is a great article that I need to utilize in PD. I need to discuss the most important Ed tech and get teachers involved with it. This needs to be one of my initial PDs of the year.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/world/27powerpoint.html?_r=1&hp

This is a great article about the real world impact of overusing PPT. I thought it was both funny and sad. If PPT makes the military more stupid, what is it doing to our students? I need to use the article as a springboard into discussions about other presentation tools.


http://edudemic.com/2010/06/the-ultimate-twitter-guidebook/

This is an amazing set of resources for PDs about Twitter. I will also use it when I introduce Twitter in my Art History class.

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Using rubrics more to judge learning

I need to have the students create and utilize rubrics more often to judge their own work and the work of classmates. This will keep the students more engaged and accountale during group projects.

The first assignment I want to use this on is ethical dilemmas. The 3 can score the other group members because they need to be persuaded by one person or group. They are in the best position to judge the arguments of others.

Action- I need to create a group discussion rubric and explain it to the students. I will then sharbthe rubric with the class and allow them to criticize and improve the rubric.

I can also use a survey to gather data about the effectiveness of the group projects and improve how they are conducted.

Getting More From Web2.0

As I am reading the book, Teaching For Understanding With Technology, I found this quote that distinguishes what technology does versus what it can do. Wiske and Franz state, "A further complication in defining educational goals is that pressure to implement new technologies may obscure the importance of using these tools to teach and learn important subject matter. Teachers may believe that simply engaging students with modern tools is worthwhile (to increase student motivation, develop students' technical expertise and twenty-first-century skills, or demonstrate up-to-date classroom practices), even if the technology is not helping students learn core curriculum topics. Teachers may incorporate technology into lessons in ways that provide some catchy entertainment with little or no contribution to learning." I know that I have fallen into this trap. I use technology because I like it or think it is exciting, but I don't really focus on big learning objectives and ensure that the use of technology leads to greater levels of learning.

The authors continue to explain what the goals of technology use should be. They state, "New technologies are most beneficial, however, when they support and deepen students' understanding of important educational subject matter. In order to apply technology this way, teachers often need to reflect on their goals and become more explicit about exactly what they hope students will learn. Educational objectives, whether they deal with academic or technology issues, may reflect a teacher's deeper purposes, core values, and ultimate hopes for the students." For the upcoming year, I will give greater planning time to understanding the learning goals for which I am aiming, and then choose technology that fulfills that role.

When trying new technologies, I think it is important to just get your hands dirty and learn the capabilities of what the tools can do. However, after that initial stage, the teacher must begin to target specific technologies to help students learn key concepts in a deeper and more meaningful way.

On my wiki, I am creating a list of technology tools with tutorials to help students create content. I am also developing rubrics for each tool so that I can give students quick feedback on their performance. The rubrics contain a component for demonstrating knowledge of the core subject matter being discussed in class. I am not sure if this is the complete solution, but it does help me to focus on the learning objectives and to tie the most appropriate web2.0 tool(s) to each learning objective.

Please comment if you can think of ways that I can improve the wiki or the focus of applying technology to content mastery.

Being More Analytical With Technology

In the past, I have utilized technology in the classroom simply because I love it and because the students are engaged while using it. I need to make more of an effort to be systematic in my thinking and really plan how to implement technology and what are my goals.

In the book, Teaching For Understanding Technology With Martha Stone Wiske offers a method that I am planning to adopt for integrating technology into my curriculum this year. She states:

Educators might being by asking, "What do our students always struggle with that is really essential for their success?" That my reveal some targets of difficulty that could be alleviated by incorporating new technologies into lessons. Another strategy is to ask, "What are students fascinated by that might suggest a way into some of the material they need to learn?" Teachers might also formulate generative topics by reflecting on their own interests and expertise, knowing that their capacity and motivation to design inventive lessons will be enhanced by their own passionate engagement. The teachers' own hobbies or areas of deep knowledge may indicate a generative approach to an important curriculum topic.

These are the three questions I will be asking before implementing technology this year:

1. What is the most important curriculum for each unit of study?
   
2. What do my students struggle to learn?
3. Which technology engages the students in the curriculum to the best extent?

These will be the questions that drive my integration of technology this year.

I want to complete a daily summary of the top three web links that I find on Twitter. Today's top 3:

1. Top 50 ipad apps - http://bit.ly/dsvIno - Gives some great ideas for apps to download. I need to conduct a PD on this for Cleveland, and I need to offer it as a session at the CLHS conference.
2. 10 Ways to declutter your digital life - http://bit.ly/9rsCq3 - Great ideas for making life easier and neater.
   

Blog Carnival

I am in the process of contributing to my first blog carnival as an activity in the #30 Goals challenge by Shelly Terrell. An article that I love is 7 Habits of Highly Effective Internet Using Educators at http://www.fi.edu/fellows/fellow6/may99/May%20Project/covey.html. It takes the concepts of Steven Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and applies it to the ed tech world. It is a short but powerful article.