We had a nice discussion about the excitement around video as a teaching / presentation tool. The ideas are spinning.
new fun page http://www.todaysmeet.com that I want to use at my school.
google may be my new hero... I learned how much I do not know. Ok, as this presentation continues I really feel behind... and I feel like I cant get this into our school fast enough. I want more.
I just made my own sketch in google sketch... too much fun.
love the idea of teaching technology classes for the parents... YES!
Inspired is probably the best word to describe me right now and not a lot to say. There are several different ideas that I have swirling around my head and I am not even sure where to take them. No doubt, I need to carve out time to sit and play with all of the different features in google. No only do I want to increase my personal understanding, I keep going back to the big question "how to I promote positive technology change in my school / district" I know several of our teachers are dong some things with technology already but not to the depth or full capacity. I really appreciated the mentality that this is happening now, lets do it now. It's not just innovating people talking but doing and fostering opportunities for students to do.
We talked about the traditional school not jiving with how the brain is built to work.... WHY do we keep doing it? My dream is to work in a small school one day where the focus is on authentic learning experiences where students determine their path to education and teachers support and guide.... and we stop trying to shove kids into boxes.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
2-9-12 make up
I will start this blog out just to say that this week has been crazy, in a bad way:( I was not able to attend class last Thursday because my back-up fell through and we had home basketball games (6 to be exact), our senior athlete recognition, and our dedication event for our new scoreboards. It was a long evening to say the least... did not leave the gym until after 10:30 and did not arrive home until 11:15... would have been better off going to class;) Thinking that I had made it through one of the crazier weeks at school, I wen to school Friday morning tired and glad that I did not have any major things scheduled for the day. At about 10:30 I received the call from my mom to let me know that I dad had just been in a serious car accident... so in my car I went to see what was going on with my dad. A totaled car, broken arm that will require surgery, broken teeth that busted through a bottom lip and lots of bruises later we are wrapping our heads around my dad's wreck and thinking how we will help him through. So, now at 8:56 pm on Sunday evening I am finally taking some time to review what was covered in class and doing my blog responses. Life happens.
In response to the motivation video I have several different thoughts that are going through my head... how do we motivate students, how do we motivate staff, how do we motivate some families, how does this message apply to my school? In my mind, this ties back to authentic work for students. I believe that if you provide authentic opportunities for students to learn, they will take much more away from the experience and achieve more than we expect. In regards to our staff, I loved the example of the 24 hours to work on whatever they want. I know I have a long list of things I would like to do if I had a blocked out chunk of time to work on a special project. It is exciting just to think about it. This was a good message and a great reminder for what motivates.
I am completely impressed with the Khan academy. I do believe that I have seen one of our science teachers use these videos, but I wonder if they are fully aware of the number of videos available to them. This is a link that I will add to our school web page for a resource for our teachers as well as use it for my own refresher courses. The concept and idea of flipping the classroom is great, and he did a great job selling the idea. We have one teacher working "flipping" her classroom and this initial steps have gone well.
Each class I come to and the more I delve into the topic of technology and education I get a little more excited. I am feeling empowered to influence my school, and am happy to report that we are having more and more conversations and taking more steps to using technology as a resource, not a replacement for our teachers, and finding ways to make the classes come alive for our students. It is a lot to digest...
In response to the motivation video I have several different thoughts that are going through my head... how do we motivate students, how do we motivate staff, how do we motivate some families, how does this message apply to my school? In my mind, this ties back to authentic work for students. I believe that if you provide authentic opportunities for students to learn, they will take much more away from the experience and achieve more than we expect. In regards to our staff, I loved the example of the 24 hours to work on whatever they want. I know I have a long list of things I would like to do if I had a blocked out chunk of time to work on a special project. It is exciting just to think about it. This was a good message and a great reminder for what motivates.
I am completely impressed with the Khan academy. I do believe that I have seen one of our science teachers use these videos, but I wonder if they are fully aware of the number of videos available to them. This is a link that I will add to our school web page for a resource for our teachers as well as use it for my own refresher courses. The concept and idea of flipping the classroom is great, and he did a great job selling the idea. We have one teacher working "flipping" her classroom and this initial steps have gone well.
Each class I come to and the more I delve into the topic of technology and education I get a little more excited. I am feeling empowered to influence my school, and am happy to report that we are having more and more conversations and taking more steps to using technology as a resource, not a replacement for our teachers, and finding ways to make the classes come alive for our students. It is a lot to digest...
Thursday, February 2, 2012
2-2-12
Well... what a day. Had to come to class late today due to a technology meeting that I have to facilitate. It was a good meeting and I am very excited about the direction that our conversations are headed. Small side note.... Dear DHS, please do the right thing.
We took the opportunity to share +/- examples regarding use of technology. After hearing what others are sharing I am feeling positive about some of the new conversations we are having in our district. We are "behind" in regards to our technology implementation, however, we ARE headed in the right direction. We ARE having the right conversations regarding new platforms for student portfolios and eliminating the "U" drive (local storage for students). I loved hearing what other districts are doing because I now have a direct link for advice on some of the issues I know we will have. Likewise, we can learn form what works / or not in other districts. Admittedly it has taken a while to get there and we have a ways to go, but we are headed down the correct path. Woo Hoo!!!!!
I love the idea of remoteness shared in the video... because I live there. Wow, so many of the comments seem to be real (quality of teachers, teacher retention). I would argue that we DO have good, no, Great teachers in our small and remote community. They care about the community and the students where they live and work hard to support learning in meaningful ways. Don't get me wrong, we can all improve and continue to grow. And the example shared about the younger children teaching the older ones... hummm... are our students teaching us about technology on a daily basis? The best line in the video was the point where the question was raised about replacing teachers with technology... if this can happen, then they should be. I believe the art of teaching is bringing the curriculum alive and teachers should use technology as a vehicle to reach out to students, get them engaged and guide them in thoughtful learning.
This past week I have had many conversations about technology, how it is used in the district, and where our vision of technology will lead us in the future. These conversations have been promising and I feel like my conversations from a few years back are starting to take hold. I have a revived hope for the future in our district and am excited that I am learning new skills to help guide the journey.
We took the opportunity to share +/- examples regarding use of technology. After hearing what others are sharing I am feeling positive about some of the new conversations we are having in our district. We are "behind" in regards to our technology implementation, however, we ARE headed in the right direction. We ARE having the right conversations regarding new platforms for student portfolios and eliminating the "U" drive (local storage for students). I loved hearing what other districts are doing because I now have a direct link for advice on some of the issues I know we will have. Likewise, we can learn form what works / or not in other districts. Admittedly it has taken a while to get there and we have a ways to go, but we are headed down the correct path. Woo Hoo!!!!!
I love the idea of remoteness shared in the video... because I live there. Wow, so many of the comments seem to be real (quality of teachers, teacher retention). I would argue that we DO have good, no, Great teachers in our small and remote community. They care about the community and the students where they live and work hard to support learning in meaningful ways. Don't get me wrong, we can all improve and continue to grow. And the example shared about the younger children teaching the older ones... hummm... are our students teaching us about technology on a daily basis? The best line in the video was the point where the question was raised about replacing teachers with technology... if this can happen, then they should be. I believe the art of teaching is bringing the curriculum alive and teachers should use technology as a vehicle to reach out to students, get them engaged and guide them in thoughtful learning.
This past week I have had many conversations about technology, how it is used in the district, and where our vision of technology will lead us in the future. These conversations have been promising and I feel like my conversations from a few years back are starting to take hold. I have a revived hope for the future in our district and am excited that I am learning new skills to help guide the journey.
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