How we are meeting the requirements

Our middle school building is going to "bring your own device" this year and will be providing either tablets or phones to those students without a personal device.  This will open up lots of opportunities for teachers to incorporate online learning experiences into their curriculum.  There are some barriers to this, however.  Time to allow for teachers to learn how to effectively use the technology is  a huge one. This summer, I am also enrolled in a class offered by our district (ALONG WITH A FEW OF OUR GREENVILLE TLA COHORT!) to learn some of the basics that the district provided tablets can do. We will have some time to play with apps and google docs and the like.  There is a small percentage of our staff attending this training though, so unless the rest of our staff is really good at learning tech things on their own, I would bet that the true usefulness of the BYOD program will be slow to realize building wide.  Our district has participated in offering E2020 courses for both middle and high school students who struggle academically or behaviorally in the traditional classroom.  To my knowledge, these are not required by all students to take.  I do not know what the high school requires of the students to meet the online learning requirement.

Student Information System

The student information system we use at our school to manage student records is PowerSchool.  Teachers have access to one side of the portal, administrators and parents have access through their respective screens.  I use PowerSchool to learn basic information about my students such as any special needs or restrictions, school photo of the student, parent contacts and their grades in their other courses.  I record student attendance and assessments in a grade book through this program.  I really like this program because it allows me to bulk or individually email parents information about their students progress.  In our old system, we used to have better access to a students building wide discipline report, I miss that information as it sometimes helped me work with a student to find solutions (knowing what had already been tried).

Website Evaluations

I bet most students, like me, do internet searches at a surface level.  I admit it.  I look for the fast answer, that's what the internet is for right? :)  So, knowing this about myself, and knowing that this is probably true for most of my students, how can educators help improve this key component of 21st century literacy?  Well, first, we need to teach students how to be more critical and using the PDF of questions you've provided us is a great place to start.  Students can also learn these skills in their art classroom through good visual literacy instruction.  Now that our school is going to a building wide "bring your own device" initiative, website evaluations will likely become part of my curriculum when I am sending kids out to gather research for their ideas.  We no longer have a media specialist screening everything in the physical library for us.  We need the kids to be able to screen for themselves.

What Works and What Doesn't

In reviewing some of John Hattie's research, I was surprised to find some of the results as they are in direct contrast to what many would consider to be good teaching methodology.  The most surprising to me were "student control over learning .04" and "direct instruction .59"  In my own experience in my classroom, student behavior is better when the student are engaged in their own learning.  When I am giving direct instructions, students tend to phase out a little.  This finding really surprised me.  I suppose that it could be so if like Hattie's research suggests that "student centered teaching is easy to do, but difficult to do well" and that the results of this survey would be skewed by teachers who are comfortable with student directed learning vs. teachers who are not as comfortable.    I was pleased to find more evidence in support of my creativity curriculum with "creativity programs .65"

Do we really need technology in the classroom?

"Students need to be “self-directed learners, effectively seeking out and using resources to assist them, including teachers, peers, and print and digital reference materials.”

"Students who are college and career ready employ technology thoughtfully to enhance their reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language use. They tailor their searches online to acquire useful information efficiently, and they integrate what they learn using technology with what they learn offline. They are familiar with the strengths and limitations of various technological tools and mediums and can select and use those best suited to their communication goals.”

The above reference some of the "common core" philosophy on technology use in the classroom.  It is our job to prepare them to function in the workplace and they need access to the same tools they would be using there.  One of the challenges with this is that technology is changing so rapidly, it is difficult to  predict exactly what tools students would need. We are also limited by the technology that the school can afford/provide for us to teach with as well as sufficient training in the available technology for teachers.  I remember when powerpoint was new and art teachers were using powerpoint to teach graphic design.  Do you see designers in the field using powerpoint to create their work? 

Yes, it is important for students to have access to the most up to date tools, including technology.  The most important thing we should be providing for our students are opportunities for them to explore their passions.  According to one of the videos we watched, when "students are turned on in the right context, there is no stopping them".  Technology is not necessary for igniting passion in our students, but if we are to prepare them for the world, they should be able to explore their passion with the most current technologies.  

My personal vision for education

In an ideal world, students would be engaged all the time with problems that are real and relevant to their personal lives.  The curriculum would be rich with starting “big ideas” to get the kids thinking and then the students would be set free to explore these big ideas. Examples of big ideas include community, relationships, identity, fantasy, etc.  These ideas are cross-curricular in nature and all content will be explored through these big ideas.  Students and teachers would have access to all kinds of tools (including technology) to research and investigate the ideas further.  Students would then be able to share their ideas with others through video or blogs or animation, if they so choose. 

The teachers are well versed in technology and their own content area and serve as guides for asking good thought provoking questions, or elegant problems. The teachers work together and collaborate with each other to keep the problems interesting.  Teachers draw on the strengths of each other and teamwork this serves as a model for students.  The teachers are often posting new or related information about the big ideas to encourage further exploration by the students.   

Students spend a majority of their time testing their hypothesis and doing hands on work when they are in school. The big ideas encourage creativity, which is at the very top of Blooms Taxonomy.  Additionally, the arts are a big part of their day as they encourage the essential right brain kind of thinking needed in the 21^st century workplace.  Students are also encouraged to play with materials as a lot can be learned through the tactile experience of play. Very little time is devoted to traditional “sit and get” instruction.  Ideally, students are so naturally engaged in the “big idea” that they are driven to carry on learning at home through their own technological devices (laptops, phones, ipads, etc).   

Students self assess their own progress as they explore their big ideas.  The curriculum is very fluid, if the students are still engaged with content or a topic, they may continue working on it until they have exhausted themselves.  Ideally, students will discover that they will uncover more questions and will self select the next direction for their work (with some teacher guidance if needed).  Comfortability with making mistakes is essential in this new environment as it encourages creative thinking and problem solving.  Assessments are never “final”.  Students are encouraged to become life long learners and because of this, they are not bogged down with prescribed units that start and end at the teachers discretion.  

What can I do to be a visionary leader?

To be a visionary leader according to the NETS standards for Administrators, I will be an advocate of a technology infused vision of education.  I will recognize the importance of and implement current technologies in my practice where I can.

TLA TAL Questions on Blogs

1.  What makes a good blog?
I think a good blog is visually appealing, has meaningful content, is easy to navigate and offers links to other blogs and related websites.

2.  How could blogs enhance my existing school web presence?
I would really like to use a blog more effectively in my own teaching practice.  Our school is moving to a building wide mobile 1:1 program next year.  Having multiple ways to connect and communicate with students will be essential in a 21st century classroom.  I just need to get on the train.

3.  Are blogs an easy way to self publish?
Yes, I think they are a very easy way to get started.  When looking at other blogs, I discovered that there are quite a few that have branched out into offering professional development, independent courses for people to take, sales of art objects, etc.  It is probably what I should be spending some more time on if I want to stay relevant.  I wonder though, in looking at the frequency of postings by the really good bloggers, I wonder if they ever get outside or enjoy life outside of their laptop?  I know personally, I sometimes feel like my technology is turning into an appendage as it is,  without devoting serious attention to blogging or maintaining social media.   How do you find a happy medium?  That is probably one of the big questions of this decade.

TLA TAL - Getting Started

What I hope to learn from this course....

I hope that this course encourages me to devote a little more time to managing my web presence and challenges me to use more technology in my classroom.  A few years ago, I developed a blog on wordpress as a way to store a digital portfolio of my work, but having not maintained the blog since its creation, I believe it is out of date now.  I have done the same with websites I have created over the years.  I hope that with a course dedicated to using a blog to turn in coursework and comment on others work, it will help me develop a habit of maintaining my sites so that they are current and useful to me.  If I can develop good habits with maintaining this blog, maybe I can transfer that habit to other blogs I have started or develop a new one that I can use as a foundation for a class with my students.  It's about setting it as a priority, I think.