Well, I've been at my new school for about six weeks now, and things are going well. I'm working at getting to know both the kids and my colleagues, and I haven't had to do that all at once for a long time! I have to say I'm very appreciative of the support I've received from the staff in the school as I've stepped into a 'coaching' role. As a group, they are receptive to new ideas and willing to take some chances on some different ideas. I think that says a great deal about the type of people they are -- taking on new challenges in the interest of doing what's best for kids. It's hard to fault commitment like that!
My biggest challenge so far has been adapting to not being part of a ubiquitous computing project any longer. I'm trying to not change the way I present lessons to my students, but sometimes it just can't be helped. Without that instant access to the technology, it's really hard to do certain types of things on the fly. They can still be done, but I have to be very planned in order to book the computer lab. I do have access to 15 minis, but until they're removed from the 'managed' pool of computers in the division, issues around long wait times for booting and logging in remain.
I've been working with our staff so they can really start working on teaching skills around 'digital citizenship.' Once we get to a certain point, some filters for staff will be removed (no more wholesale blocked blogs!), and staff and students will be able to bring in their own devices. I can't wait. The sooner I can get more access for my students, the sooner we can get back to the way I've become accustomed to working. Even having kids being able to Google something on their iPods will be a huge step in the right direction. I also find it much easier to teach responsible use on the fly -- there's a lot to be said for the 'teachable moment.' I really miss that spontaneity.
In the meantime, I'll just keep checking all the cool things being tweeted -- and figuring out what the best sync program will be for my new Torch...
Change is good...
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Moving On...
It's been awhile since I've added something here. Reading some blogs by some people on another online community has given me the inspiration to finally come and update.
After 11 years, I'm changing schools. It's my choice; familiarity may not breed contempt, but it sure can breed complacency. It was time for me to move to a different environment and try something new. The Emerge project is finished (all except for the final paperwork), my former school is in good shape with their AISI project, and the new math program is completely implemented. There's a strong team at that school that will continue to do great things for kids.
I'm going from a K-9 school to a K-12 school, and getting the opportunity to work with some Grade 10 math in the second semester. We still have to figure out how we'll handle it, as a team-teaching situation or something different. I have a great deal of respect for the other teacher who is an excellent math teacher, and I hope to learn from her.
I'll still be working with junior high kids in math and social, but moving to the new school is giving me a chance to rebuild some of my plans, especially since I've been immersed in the 1-1 project for the last three years. I'll be going from a situation with ubiquitous computer access for students to a place where I've been 'given' a cart with 15 mini-laptops. That will require some adjustments, but I hope the move by our division to allow staff and students to use their own devices will encourage some of them to bring their own laptops, or iPods. Certainly, with a limited number of machines at our disposal, *collaboration* and *teamwork* are going to be key, especially in the social studies classes!
There will be plenty of opportunities to work with kids on digital citizenship, as I plan to use wikis for both the social classes I'll be teaching, and perhaps the math. I want the kids to take charge of their learning; to learn how to learn and to learn from each other. I know how kids can be engaged by technology; I would really like to take advantage of that. I suspect I might be kicking over some applecarts while I do that, but that wouldn't be the first time. Would it?
After 11 years, I'm changing schools. It's my choice; familiarity may not breed contempt, but it sure can breed complacency. It was time for me to move to a different environment and try something new. The Emerge project is finished (all except for the final paperwork), my former school is in good shape with their AISI project, and the new math program is completely implemented. There's a strong team at that school that will continue to do great things for kids.
I'm going from a K-9 school to a K-12 school, and getting the opportunity to work with some Grade 10 math in the second semester. We still have to figure out how we'll handle it, as a team-teaching situation or something different. I have a great deal of respect for the other teacher who is an excellent math teacher, and I hope to learn from her.
I'll still be working with junior high kids in math and social, but moving to the new school is giving me a chance to rebuild some of my plans, especially since I've been immersed in the 1-1 project for the last three years. I'll be going from a situation with ubiquitous computer access for students to a place where I've been 'given' a cart with 15 mini-laptops. That will require some adjustments, but I hope the move by our division to allow staff and students to use their own devices will encourage some of them to bring their own laptops, or iPods. Certainly, with a limited number of machines at our disposal, *collaboration* and *teamwork* are going to be key, especially in the social studies classes!
There will be plenty of opportunities to work with kids on digital citizenship, as I plan to use wikis for both the social classes I'll be teaching, and perhaps the math. I want the kids to take charge of their learning; to learn how to learn and to learn from each other. I know how kids can be engaged by technology; I would really like to take advantage of that. I suspect I might be kicking over some applecarts while I do that, but that wouldn't be the first time. Would it?
Sunday, December 6, 2009
The World of Social Media -- And What It Means for Kids, Parents, & Teachers
The following is an article I wrote for our school newsletter. I also posted it on our school website.
On November 20, over 300 teachers and administrators from our school division attended the Leading and Learning conference in Red Deer. This conference is sponsored by the Central Alberta Regional Consortium, which is an organization devoted to creating effective PD for teachers in school divisions in Central Alberta.
The theme of this year’s conference was “Inspiring Learners,” focusing not only on how our children can be inspired to learn, but also on how the adults in their lives can be inspired to learn. After all, we are ALL learners, even after we leave formal education.
One of the keynote speakers was Will Richardson, who is a former teacher and now writes and speaks about implementing instructional technology, specifically those known as “read/write” web (blogs, wikis, social networking, etc). At the outside of his presentation, he said his intent was to disturb us and make us uncomfortable. Then he went on to challenge us about our use of technology in our teaching, and more specifically about how we are (or are not) teaching our children to use the technology responsibly and safely.
Richardson’s own wiki offers examples of how our children are using the Read/Write web on their own, often without adult direction. We want our kids to learn how to use these tools, but they are often not being taught *how* to use them appropriately.
The Junior High students in our school have been fortunate to be part of the Emerge 1-1 Laptop project for the past three years and they are learning some of the digital citizenship skills needed in their world. Really, what it all comes down to is two things (as pointed out by Alec Couros, another presenter at the conference): 1) Once you post it, you can’t take it back; and 2) Never assume anything online is private.
But unless the adults in their world are also conversant with the technology, it’s difficult for the children to get proper guidance regarding these two key concepts. Do they have a Facebook or MySpace page? If so, do they know how to change their privacy settings to protect their personal information?
Do YOU know how to change your settings? (If not, check out http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/02/facebook-privacy/ for an introduction to how you can protect yourself and your children).
If you want to try an interesting experiment, go to Google and put your own name (or your child’s name) in the search field and see what comes up. That is your (or your child’s) online identity, and it’s there for a very long time. Increasingly, employers and post-secondary registrars are searching online databases to see what they can learn about applicants. There have been instances where applicants have been screened out of positions because of their online identities, which relates back to Couros’s two points; you can’t take it back, and it’s never really private.
Learning to be part of the Read/Write web is more than just privacy issues. There’s also the issue of recognizing the validity of content on the web. What is legitimate? What is not? Consuming information is far more complex than when were kids when all we had were the books and encyclopedia in the library, and maybe the odd magazine or newspaper subscription. We now have access to information from all over the world. Everyone and anyone is an author. How do figure out what is good information and what is not? Again, these are skills we learn through practice.
Take the time to see what’s out there and learn how your kids are using the web. Then talk to them about it. Together, the home and school can help our children become critical consumers – and creators – of online content. We can’t afford not to.
On November 20, over 300 teachers and administrators from our school division attended the Leading and Learning conference in Red Deer. This conference is sponsored by the Central Alberta Regional Consortium, which is an organization devoted to creating effective PD for teachers in school divisions in Central Alberta.
The theme of this year’s conference was “Inspiring Learners,” focusing not only on how our children can be inspired to learn, but also on how the adults in their lives can be inspired to learn. After all, we are ALL learners, even after we leave formal education.
One of the keynote speakers was Will Richardson, who is a former teacher and now writes and speaks about implementing instructional technology, specifically those known as “read/write” web (blogs, wikis, social networking, etc). At the outside of his presentation, he said his intent was to disturb us and make us uncomfortable. Then he went on to challenge us about our use of technology in our teaching, and more specifically about how we are (or are not) teaching our children to use the technology responsibly and safely.
Richardson’s own wiki offers examples of how our children are using the Read/Write web on their own, often without adult direction. We want our kids to learn how to use these tools, but they are often not being taught *how* to use them appropriately.
The Junior High students in our school have been fortunate to be part of the Emerge 1-1 Laptop project for the past three years and they are learning some of the digital citizenship skills needed in their world. Really, what it all comes down to is two things (as pointed out by Alec Couros, another presenter at the conference): 1) Once you post it, you can’t take it back; and 2) Never assume anything online is private.
But unless the adults in their world are also conversant with the technology, it’s difficult for the children to get proper guidance regarding these two key concepts. Do they have a Facebook or MySpace page? If so, do they know how to change their privacy settings to protect their personal information?
Do YOU know how to change your settings? (If not, check out http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/02/facebook-privacy/ for an introduction to how you can protect yourself and your children).
If you want to try an interesting experiment, go to Google and put your own name (or your child’s name) in the search field and see what comes up. That is your (or your child’s) online identity, and it’s there for a very long time. Increasingly, employers and post-secondary registrars are searching online databases to see what they can learn about applicants. There have been instances where applicants have been screened out of positions because of their online identities, which relates back to Couros’s two points; you can’t take it back, and it’s never really private.
Learning to be part of the Read/Write web is more than just privacy issues. There’s also the issue of recognizing the validity of content on the web. What is legitimate? What is not? Consuming information is far more complex than when were kids when all we had were the books and encyclopedia in the library, and maybe the odd magazine or newspaper subscription. We now have access to information from all over the world. Everyone and anyone is an author. How do figure out what is good information and what is not? Again, these are skills we learn through practice.
Take the time to see what’s out there and learn how your kids are using the web. Then talk to them about it. Together, the home and school can help our children become critical consumers – and creators – of online content. We can’t afford not to.
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