Fed Ex Day - Spicing up PD

I keep telling the teachers in my district that they should start a blog to keep track of what's working and how far they've come.  I guess I should take my own advice and consider posting more often.

Last week was a first for our school district.  After a few emails and conversations with administration, I was able to get the okay to use one of our staff development days as a "FedEx Day".  Basically, teachers are allowed to work with anyone, on any topic they wish, as long as they deliver something in a 24 hour period- a product, an idea, etc.  (These types of learning opportunities have also been called "Genius Hour" or "Google 20%").  I wanted a fresh idea to bring to professional development.  My idea and information came from this blog:  Fed Ex Day

It was really interesting to see the level of discomfort from some teachers.  The response was mixed at first, but after having them fill out a survey of how the day went, the response was overwhelmingly positive.  I had them post their idea or product to Schoology (we have a tech integration course set up, since our district uses this LMS).  Here are some ideas they came up with:

• P.E. team looked at bringing in a new winter activity like snowshoeing for students

• Science created a google document that lists all the activities they do with their students to make sure they aren't doubling up and are meeting all the standards
• Our music department created a Facebook page in preparation for their upcoming trip.  The students will be outside the state, so they wanted to keep parents updated and share pictures.
• Our social workers worked together to share ideas from a website they had found

• Math teachers created a template for math vocabulary flashcards to be created by students and shared in grades 6-12

These were just a few of the great things that happened at JCC that day.  Of course, this blog would not be complete without mentioning some of the challenges we faced.  For beginners, I wasn't sure whether or not I should give them examples of things they could do.  Some thought they could just work on those "daunting" tasks they never seem to have time for (like grading papers and organizing Schoology resources).  I wanted it to be more than this, so I tried to steer them in the right direction.  Another complication was when a team would come up with a list of things they wanted to do, but then didn't know how to divide up to do it.  They simply thought that having that list was all they "needed to do", and wanted to stop with 2 hours left to work!  Still others were so concerned about having to publish something to Schoology within 24 hours, that they never really took the time to THINK.  If I get the opportunity to do something similar in the upcoming years, I hope to tackle these issues.

Overall, it was one of the best in-service days some teachers had ever had. I'm continuing to find ideas on how to differentiate pd to make staff development meaningful and engaging.  Feel free to post your ideas, too!

Instructions for Math Apprentice Podcast

I used the app GarageBand for my podcast.  It is available for $4.99 in the iTunes app store, but many say it is worth the investment. The great thing about GarageBand is that it does much more than just podcasts- you can acutally create your own songs using it.  There are different instruments to choose from and you can do voiceovers if you wanted to.  There are also different options for playback of your song- there's a robot voice, a chipmunk voice, and even a "dreamy" voice that I was going to try, but I didn't want any of you cuddled up next to your computers all night listening to my 2 minute podcast over and over.It was pretty simple to use. I put mine on automatic, but you can set how many bars you want to record, and it clicks to keep tempo.  Feel free to play around with it!

Internet in My Classroom

As our textbook states on page 281, "As with all techonology tools, it is not the tool itself that enhances teaching and learning, it is how the tool is used by the creative professional educator who is wielding it. The web is a marvel of limitless resources.  But your students need you, their teacher, to help make the web truly meaningful in their attempt to achieve their academic potential."  (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2010).

I believe it is important to teach students how to use the internet in a safe and productive way.  Bringing the internet into my classroom is the easiest way for me to do this.  Although there are days when I struggle with class management due to having 25 students on an iPad, I know that I am in the process of showing them what a useful learning tool the web can be.  I've always been a believer in "inquiry learning", and having the internet in the palm of my students' hands (literally) is an efficient way to really make my lessons meaningful.  The ability for students to ask questions and immediately get the answers has never been so easy.

Take, for example, a middle school math teacher attempting to teach a geometry unit on angles.  A loud, somewhat obnoxious sixth grader blurts out, "This is so dumb! We're never going to need to know this!"  BOOM! Time for a "teachable moment".  The lesson is now focused on finding ways that we use geometry in our daily lives, and why it's important to understand angles.  Every student grabs their iPad, opens Safari, and starts researching angles.  I'm imagining groups of students discussing landing airplanes, building bridges, famous athletes performing in sports, and these are just a few of the many possibilities for learning to take place.  Click here for more examples!

To assess understanding, they could use their iPads to take pictures of how they use geometry in their daily lives- it could be a student in a wheelchair going up a ramp (what are the requirements  of the measure of incline for handicap accessible ramps?) Perhaps another student has a picture of a classmate shooting a basketball at recess (what angles are involved in making a shot/using the backboard?) The next day we can project these pictures on our board and use protractors to measure the angles.  Or we could compare the inclines on staircases from the homes of our classmates.  Who is more likely to fall- a student with a staircase incline of 30 degrees or one with an incline of 45 degrees?

How do these lessons become meaningful? It's about giving students the opportunities to be responsible for their learning, and requiring them to be active instead of passive.

References:
Chapman, L. (2011). How to use geometry in every day life. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/how_4421171_use-geometry-everyday-life.html

Lever-Duffy, J., & McDonald, J. B. (2010). Teaching and learning with technology. (Fourth ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

B-L-O-G

Why blog? 

Blogging is a special form of writing. Every writer must first consider their audience when they begin the process of expressing their thoughts on paper (or computer). A blog allows writers to publish their work for others to see, which is a significant difference between blogging and other forms of writing. Most forms of writing are one-way streets; newspapers, magazines, and books are published for an audience to interpret and make sense of what they've read. Blogs, on the other hand, can be shared by people all over the world, who are able to comment and interact with the author via the internet. 

Why use blogger?

Blogger, like many of the Google sites, is user-friendly.  Once signed into your Google account, you are able to access your documents, email, and blog all without memorizing new usernames and passwords.  The auto-save after editing is a must-have.  I can remember many times where I have typed up pages and pages of documents only to lose what had taken me hours to write.  There is nothing more frustrating! Being able to view the number of visits is a nice feature. Blogger keeps it simple- there aren't as many choices as other blogging sites (fonts, layouts, etc.) but it focuses on what is most important- the words the author is sharing.  

How is blogging used?

Blogging can best be used in my profession to interact with students (and parents) outside of school.   Sharing blogs allows for students to be learning 24/7, and creates opportunities for discussion, higher level thinking, and clarification when they leave the classroom.  Instead of having to cut lecture short when the bell rings, teachers are able to assign students to "blog" about it when they get home.  This gives them a chance to do more research and provides time for internalization.  

Blogging can also be used as a resource for other teachers.  My coworkers look up to me as a "tech guru", and are interested in what is happening in my classroom.  Providing a blog, where I put examples of tech tools and possible lesson plans, helps them to see what is out there and provides ideas for them to try. They can access the site at any time, any place, and be learning from me!  So far, this has been my only use of blogging. I, like most others, blog about what I am most passionate about. For me, this is teaching! 

UPDATE 3/10/15:

Perhaps I've missed what I would consider the most important reason to blog, and that is for PERSONAL GROWTH & REFLECTION.  There is nothing better than looking back at where you've come from and the new lessons you've learned along the way.  Keeping a blog allows us to reflect on our professional and personal growth.  I challenge all of you to begin blogging and start reaping the benefits!

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