Why can't I turn down the pages?

If you find something you like on a page in a book, what do you do?

Turn down page corners ...

Underline ...

Highlight ...

Jot in the margins ...

Circle ..

Draw stars ...

Use sticky notes ...

So what do you do when you find a webpage that you like?

It can be kinda hard to do the same things ...

But some of the Diigo tools can help!

Here are some other resources that might help with Diigo too:

• Diigo in the Classroom

• Getting Started with Diigo Educator Account

• An Introduction to Diigo for Educators

• Using Diigo in the Classroom  

• 12 Reasons Teachers Should Use Diigo

photo credit: quinn.anya via photopin cc

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School News: Drum Up Some Business

Let’s see, equipment… check, location… check, now that you have these things setup what’s next?  Hmm… oh yeah I need some backing to make sure that the School News is a success.

Me, I’m always one to get permission first rather than ask for forgiveness later.  So I would first talk to your school Principal about this new opportunity at the school to help students with literacy, vocabulary, reading, digital-citizenship, self-confidence and presentation skills.  How do throwing out these words help?  That is exactly what having a school news show will do for the students that are a part of the program!  Even for students that already seem to have a good grasp on vocabulary and reading can be challenged because of the presentation component. 

It’s a challenge for you as well being the teacher that has decided to take on this role, as the “Trailblazer” at your school.  If you get the ok from the Principal it is now time to get the ok from the other teachers.  Here is when having a ready to go sample broadcast where you are in front of the camera to show comes in handy.  They will get to see how you react in front of the camera, consider their student reactions and then make a decision.  You could even show the sample broadcast school-wide to students to get their reactions and interest level.  In the schools that I have seen this done the students excited about the prospect of being on the school news cast. 

With that being said now you have to figure out the process to get your students working with you on the news.  I have a few steps that seem to have worked in the past and will share them here.  By all means this is not the end all be all and you may have additional steps or comments about the process, I encourage you to leave me comments at the bottom of the article.

Step 1:  Setting up your Broadcast Team

You want to create the roles/jobs that the students will be doing as a part of the broadcast team.  Anchors, Writers, Production to name a few.  And you want to set a limit on the number of students you will have as a part of the Broadcast Team.  You want to have at least enough so that if someone is out or late there is someone to fill in.

Step 2:  Application Process

Yes I said application.  You want to have an application that students will fill out just as they would for a job.  This will give them some real world experience for life after school.  How you create the application is up to you but some things to consider including as well as the job description is a discipline policy that covers actions in and out of the classroom.  This would also outline dismissal from the broadcast team for student

infractions.  A photo release that needs to be signed by a parent or guardian. You will also want to make sure that you have writing samples from each student and notify them that they will have to complete an on camera live audition using their own material.  During this process it seems that as students want to get involved others that were on the fence come out of the wood work to apply and you tend to have far more than you could ever use.  But the great thing for this is that you will have a steady stream of backups should something happen.  If you have enough interest you could set up a rotation with multiple groups of students.

Once you have all of your applications in and have selected your team now it is time to get the magic started!

Step 3:  Putting the Pieces together

Now that you have identified the students who will be a part of the broadcast team it’s time to get things started. 

Production Team Training: Even though you have assigned everyone to their positions it would probably be best to train everyone on how to use the equipment just in case someone is not there.  The reason for this is that at some point you want this to become self-sufficient where the student have total control of the news show.

Writers:  You want to give your writers a standard script that they need to follow but that they can update and change daily.  That also have to be turned in ahead of time for review and rewrite if necessary.  Here are some standard items you can put in the script.

Daily Announcements, Birthdays, Lunch menu, Weather, Upcoming Events and Recognitions (students & teachers).  Many of these things can be done a couple of days ahead especially things like birthdays, menu and weather.  This can make things easier for students to turn in.  Also you can allow the students to research other things to put in the script.  Items like a word, joke or quote of the day, an interesting fact, something that happened in history on this date.

Anchors:The face of your newscast that can make or break the success of the broadcast.  Something that your anchors need to understand is that they need to be dressed appropriately each and every day that they are on the air.  They are representing the entire school whether or not they are on the air or not.  There are more Do’s and Don’ts for this group than the others because of being in front of the camera.  Practice is also a key component, ask them to go over the script in front of you.  Encourage them to practice at home, in front of a mirror or with others on the broadcast team.  This will help them to get over some of the jitters of being in front of the camera and help steady their speech and nervous tendencies. 

Just having these few things setup prior to jumping into the deep end will prevent a lot of problems down the road and make your School News a success. 

photo credit: woodleywonderworks via photopin cc

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The Instructional Technology Wife Swap

Educators seem to draw inspiration from the funniest areas.  Sometimes lessons evolve from an incredible experience at a teaching conference, and other times teachers just sprinkle clips from “The Simpsons” through a Language Arts presentation to make things a little more engaging.

Well, get ready, folks - this epiphany comes to you courtesy of ‘Wife Swap.’

In case you’re not familiar with the show, ‘Wife Swap’ takes two diametrically different moms and puts them in a worst-case scenario: that is, they have to live the life of their antithesis.  A strongly conservative wife gets dropped into a household of liberal nuts (their words, not mine!), or  the hippie/new-age mom has to deal with a family that believes hunting, tractors, and Jesus are the only way to live.  It’s a show that prides itself on creating conflict for the sake of entertainment.  And, of course, at the end of every episode the wives get to return home to their ‘normal’ environment, and share with their family the bits of wisdom they’ve learned from the whole experience.

This particular pairing saw an etiquette instructor swap places with a do whatever you want, free-range parenting mom.  They both had to live by the rules of their new families for a few days before switching it up and making the new families live by their rules.  So, the free-range mom struggled with formal dinners and table manners class, while the other mom had to deal with unruly kids at the grocery store who told her to “kiss (their) butts.”  Entertaining stuff, just not necessarily life-changing.

But then, when they got to set their own rules, the real education took place. The ‘kids will be kids’ wife learned that some people value respect, but was able to inject a little bit of fun into the family’s proper way of living.  The etiquette instructor showed how manners, along with discipline, could change the entire climate of a household.  Afterwards, her “swapped” husband even said something along the lines of, “I never knew my kids could act this good... but it’s what I’ve always wanted.”

People tasked with changing technology culture in schools -  instructional technologist, technology facilitators, or, my preferred term, technology coaches - are essentially living out the wife swap idea in an educational context.  They hail from lands far away, and bring with them foreign ideas of how life in the classroom should work.  It doesn’t matter that they might also be teachers, or have educational licenses, or anything else.  They are always the outsider.

And teachers, by proxy, act as the family members who are struggling to adapt. Their normal mom is gone, replaced by this new mom with whacked-out ideas about how the world works.  This person might be staying with the family, living in their home, and eating their food, but this person’s belief system simply fails to mesh with the established norm.  Essentially, if technology coaches become the unwarranted swapped wives, classroom teachers become the family members who don’t realize a little fresh perspective might do ‘em good.

Still with me?  Good… because here’s where things get a bit tricky.

See, ‘Wife Swap’ requires new wives to live the life of their predecessor for a short while.  They might put up a fight, complain, cry, and eventually threaten to leave the show, but they still have to adhere to the family norms already in place.  This does two things: first, it gives the new wife insight to the family make-up.  You ever heard the old expression, “to really understand somebody, you have to walk a mile in their shoes”?  This is the reality tv version.  An immersive cultural experience is the foundation of study abroad programs across the world because it works, and ‘Wife Swap’ is no different.

Secondly, this lets the families, or in our case, the teachers, see the new wives in a different light.  It breaks down some of those defensive barriers.  When the families see that the new wife is willing to go well outside her comfort zone, many times to the point of breaking down,  they understand that this new wife is still a wife, and mother, and everything else, but she’s different only because her past experiences are different.  Does that difference make her wrong?  No.  Is her difference of belief system a bad thing? Definitely not. Can the family now learn a little something from her?  Possibly.

It’s our jobs as educators - be it technology coaches, or classroom teachers, or directors of technology, or school administrators - to always focus on learning, and to always focus on the kids.  We let a lot of the “white noise” in educational innovation cloud those two ideas.

And so occasionally, we need to swap wives.  We have to understand together that, just because we both have preconceived ideas of what should be happening in a classroom, doesn’t mean that we’re both right.  It also doesn’t mean that we’re both wrong.  And while technology coaches are responsible for training teachers in new and exciting educational resources, those same coaches should learn as much - or more - from the teachers they’re trying to help.

This philosophy is key if we ever hope to hear our teachers say, “I never knew my classroom could be this good… but it’s what I’ve always wanted.”

photo credit: Profound Whatever via photopin cc

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Symbaloo!!!!!!

When I met with Kindergarten teachers yesterday, one of the teachers said she had seen someone using Symbaloo and would like to learn more about it ...

I use Symbaloo EDU many times each day so I was glad to share!

We started by looking at one I had created with the sites that I visit often. I explained that having all these sites in one place was a time saver for me! And the fact that I could make it look pretty and colorful only made it better!

Then I showed some other symbaloos that I have made that are smaller and might be easier for teachers and/or students to handle ...

For me it is a way of organizing resources that makes them accessible ...

Since it was getting close to time for them to get students, I said I would send some instructions and videos for them to refer to.

When I got a chance to work on that this morning, I was planning on typing out a list and taking some screenshots to make a video ...

Then I decided to see what was already out there since I did not need to recreate the wheel ...

So I started searching ...

And finding things!!!

As I was discovering more and more resources, I began thinking about a way to share these resources with the teachers ...

So I decided to create a Symbaloo about using Symbaloo in Edu!

   

I have not added much yet, but will continue to add resources as I find them!

The great thing is that I won't have to send the teachers something each time I update the symbaloo since it updates automatically!

If you have or know of any great examples/resources on how to use Symbaloo in the Classroom, please send them my way!

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What’s in a name….BYOD, MLC, BYOT?

I have taken a journey over the past 6 months or so regarding my own personal learning as it pertains to the bring your own philosophy in schools.  I have been hearing, seeing, reading and talking about it and never really knew what the big idea was.  It seemed to me to be a good idea but when I would ask people how they were using the devices most of the time I would receive a blank stare or a half-hearted “because they are great for kids to use.”  I wasn’t satisfied with this answer and needed to get more information. 

Back in April our department began working on a plan to help outline and prepare our teachers for this bring your own concept, normally termed as BYOD or BYOT.  Even though this is how most people refer to it we decided, with the guidance from Marty Creech, to rename it as a Mobile Learning Community (MLC). 

As our team worked throughout the month I began realize that I needed to change my outlook on how I saw the ways that devices were used in the classroom.  I do not have as much time in the classroom as my colleagues so I needed to do some extra work by asking question, talking with others to see what they thought of the concept.  At first when I talked to educators their ideas were that they had this great app that would help their students.  When I would ask them how would one app benefit the entire class if it is only on one type of device the response was usually a blank stare or “but it’s a really great app I found and they can use it.”  My response would be to ask if they would pass their device to a student to use or pay for the app on their device.  The usually response was I will show it on the screen for them to follow along.  Which made me think; how is this helping the students.

We looked at it from a new direction.  We said that it should not matter what type of a device a student has it should matter how they are engaged in the learning process.  I had read Daniel Pink’s book “A Whole New Mind” and Ken Robinsons’ “The Element” and had seen Pinks’ new book “Drive” and started reading it.  As I was reading and thinking about motivators and why we do things the way we do I started to think about how this could translate into the classroom.  Sure enough by May our department was hip deep in the “Process of Learning” something which grew out of many different approaches of teaching.  From Project and Problem-based learning to CERTL and Learning Focused and even Socratic methods of teaching.  We put together a Process of Learning guide that took the best things from all the others and put it into a smaller more manageable format that could be set up quickly and most of all could be used regardless of whether or not there was access to technology devices or not.

I was still not feeling comfortable in the how my limited classroom time would translate into a convincing discussion with teachers about how this new training approach and the Process of Learning.  With some guidance, coaching and assistance from my co-workers; Marty Creech and Celia Gossett, I started to feel comfortable that I could be a guiding spark to teachers during this new approach to training.  I now feel that I can talk and offer suggestions to teachers based on their needs with curriculum that I did not have before starting this process.  My co-workers have empowered me by supporting and guiding me through this learning process which has proven successful throughout the training workshops we have delivered.

photo credit: eflon via photopin cc

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Do You Have a PLN?

The last couple of weeks I have had some technology issues that I had either forgotten about or had never heard of before. I started to think of what my resources were to try and find the answers to these issues. My first issue was with flash items no longer working on a SMART Board. In the past, I would call SMART tech support and I could be on hold for a long time. So, I just kept thinking about how I could find out how to fix this problem. Then it hit me, ask my PLN (Personal Learning Network). One of my favorite PLN's is Twitter. I posted the question about flash not working anymore in SMART Notebook and asked how to fix it. I then remembered that I was following @SMART_Tech (SMART Technologies), so I went to their twitter feed. What do you think I found? That's right! I found the answer to my question. In less than 10 minutes, I had a solution to the issue. Here is a link to the solution: http://knowledgebase.force.com/articles/Troubleshooting/You-re-unable-to-interact-with-Adobe-Flash-Player-objects-in-SMART-Notebook-software-after-updating-to-Adobe-Flash-Player-11-9-X?utm_content=Active+X+issue+in+11.9&utm_campaign=Software+Updates+EDU&utm_source=Twitter%3A+SMART_Tech&utm_medium=post&WT.mc_id=Twitter%3A+SMART_Tech_Software+Updates+EDU_Active+X+issue+in+11.9.

My next technology issue was how to import a document into SMART Notebook. This time I went straight to Twitter and posted the question directly to @SMART_Tech. I also am a member of a SMART Notebook Users Group in Edmodo, so I posted the question there. Within 5 minutes I had the answer to my question. As soon as I saw what the solution was, it was a head-smack moment. I remember that from when I first learned how to use SMART Notebook but I had forgotten about it. The answer was open your document (pdf, word, etc.), click on File, click on Print, and print to SMART Notebook. Simple, right! 

My point in sharing all of this is how awesome having a PLN is. My main go-to's for learning is Twitter and Edmodo (after my awesome co-workers and boss of course). If you are not a member of either, I encourage you to join. They are both free and have great educators that are willing to help.

Image was created using Wordle. 

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An Inside Look at School News

Your Principal comes to you and asks you to start up a news broadcast at your school.  What do you do?  Where do you start?

Well, it seems like I have been living this dream for a couple of months straight now and want to share some tips and tricks with you on what I have done as I talk with schools.

Now this is just what I have done and by no means is the end all be all of setup processes but maybe you can pick up something along the way.  I will be breaking this up into a couple of blog articles because I can get pretty wordy, and I want you to come back.

So according to this scenario where do you begin? Well, at the beginning of course.

Where do you start? Let’s talk about what you need to have to get things going.  What kind of equipment do you need to have to do a newscast?

Actually this is the easiest part of the whole process.

Really, you might be thinking, yes it is.

So what should you have? Do you need to buy anything?

Whoa, hold on now let’s just take a look at what you have right in front of you first before we start trying to go through that long buying process that every school system has.

(At the end of the blog I will put in some other additional things that you could use to create a newsroom.)

Equipment:

A camera that’s it, that’s all, nothing else.

I am not talking about a Digital or Polaroid camera; I am referring to a video camera.  What type of video camera do you need?  That’s easy depending on what type of computer you have it, might be right in front of you.

Yes I am talking about a Web Camera; you know the one that is built into your laptop or one you may have purchased to go with your desktop computer.  I am of the firm belief of using whatever you have access to before buying anything.

So you have your webcam what else?  You do need to make sure that your webcam does have a built in microphone that is important.  If it does not then you will need to have access to a microphone that can plug into a computer.  I will explain a little more about sound in just a moment.  OK you have the video camera w/a microphone what’s next?

Now you need a space.

Location:

You want to make sure that you have an area set aside to be your newscast location.  It can be anyplace you have available in the school. A small area set aside in a classroom, Media Center or one of those wonderful Cafegymnatoriums.  (It took me a couple of years to be able to pronounce the word.)

The ideal location would be one that is separate from high traffic areas like a dedicated room.

I know that this is not common for most schools, so use what is available to you.

Now that you have figured out what space you are going to use what’s next?  My suggestion would be some chairs and maybe a table, a table is not always necessary though.  As long as you have a comfortable seat for your students to sit that is all that is really needed.

In this area I would also try to eliminate, as much as you can, any additional noises by using what is available as a sound break.  You could use partition walls, book shelves, mobile coat closets, desks, carpet squares, rugs or anything else that could create a noise barrier.

Broadcasting:

Now that we have our equipment and a location to broadcast from how do you get the news out to your entire school?  There are many ways to do this; I will outline a few of them that have been successful in our schools:

• A quick and easy way is to just record the newscast with the students and then post the video up for the school to see at a later time.  To do this you will need to have a computer with some sort of recording software on it.  If you are using a PC you could use the built in Windows Live Movie Maker, or if you have a Mac you may have iMovie which you can use.  Both software applications have the ability to record from a video camera and then each have some tools for editing and saving the video to your computer to post for all of the students and teachers to see.

• A second way is to use an online resource to show the newscast live.  A website that allows you to do this is Ustream.TV, the site allows you to live stream video and audio over the internet as long as you have a network connection from the computer your webcam is attached to.  You will have to set up an account on the website for streaming but it is free at least the last time I used the site it was.  You will set up the station to watch, make sure that the camera is connected and visible by the website.  Then you will get a link that you will send out to the school for classrooms to click on and watch.

Ok I mentioned before about sharing some other ideas for Equipment, Location and Broadcasting.  These are the beyond the basics of what is listed above:

Equipment:

• Video cameras:  Camcorders, singular or multiple to use with a video changer for multiple camera angles.
• Sound: Sound boards to allow for multiple microphones whether wired or wireless.

Location:

• Room:  A studio room that is already sound proof and wired for the equipment.
• Broadcasting:  Closed Circuit Systems can be used if available or a web-based broadcasting system.

This is just a small start to get a newscast going in your school.  Over the next couple of weeks I will talk more about the behind the scenes things that need to be done with student expectations and some interesting tools and techniques you can use to make your newscasts more interactive and fun so stay tuned for more.

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Collaboration in the Digital Classroom

Want to learn more about collaborating in a digital classroom? I am going to offer an online facilitated professional development course called Collaboration in the Digital Classroom. This is from Intel® Teach Elements. Below is a QR code that links to a flyer and video explaining more about the course.

Here is a description from Intel® on Collaboration in the Digital Classroom: 

"Provides an in-depth look at collaboration with a focus on online collaborative tools. In this course, you will see how collaboration helps students develop 21st century thinking skills, deepen content understanding, and prepare them for the global world. You’ll learn how to plan and manage collaboration activities that integrate online collaborative tools—increasingly part of our globally connected workplaces.

• Learn how to find and choose the best Web-based tools to support collaboration
• Learn how to manage and support collaborators
• Understand and promote ethical, appropriate, and safe online behavior.

The course offers opportunities to apply the collaboration concepts with action planning exercises."

The start date of this workshop will be September 23, 2013 and we will end on Friday, November 15, 2013. We will have an optional face to face meeting to cover how to navigate this moodle. The optional face to face meeting will be on Tuesday, September 24, 2013 at 4801 Bethania Station Road in the IRC computer lab from 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. This workshop is limited to 15 participants.

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Inspiring Curiosity with Cloud Shapes

Several weeks ago on Twitter someone posted a TED Talk. This TED Talk was by Gavin Pretor-Pinney: Cloudy with a Chance of Joy. Now why would I blog about that? Watch the TED Talk below and see what comes to your mind!


 

A couple of things that I really liked was when Gavin was talking about unplugging from everything and just laying back and watching the clouds. He talked about several cloud formations and that got me to thinking about different science standards and how they have to do with cloud shapes. Wouldn't showing this video be a good idea for introducing a unit on clouds? I think so!

The grade levels and the content standards are listed below:

7th Grade: 7.E.1.4 Predict weather conditions and patterns based on information obtained from:

• Weather data collected from direct observations and measurement (wind speed and direction, air temperature, humidity and air pressure)


• Weather maps, satellites and radar


• Cloud shapes and types and associated elevation

5th Grade: 5.E.1 Understand weather patterns and phenomena, making connections to the weather in a particular place and time.

•  5.E.1.3 Explain how global patterns such as the jet stream and water currents
  influence local weather in measurable terms such as temperature, wind
  direction and speed, and precipitation. 

Another great idea is using Wonderopolis. They have a great wonder of the day #591: What is a Lenticular Cloud?

One idea of how this could be used in the classroom would be as an introduction to your unit. Watch Gavin's TED Talk at the beginning of the unit, then give students an assignment to just look at the clouds they see (maybe over a weekend). They could also take pictures of these clouds to identify later. Another idea is after taking these pictures and identifying the different types of clouds, they could blog about the cloud and maybe mention what type of shape they saw in the clouds.

How will you see joy in the shapes of clouds?

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Rockin' In My School Shoes ....

What was the last song you had stuck in your head?

Well, I know what the next song stuck in your head will be ...



While visiting Smith Farm Elementary School media center on the first day, I overheard a read-aloud and the song to go with it!

You probably guessed that it was a Pete the Cat book!

I have had "rockin' in my school shoes" stuck in my head for three days!

(Wonderopolis today calls things that get stuck in your head Earworms!)

My coworkers smiled at first when I sang those words and hummed the tune and then added their names ....

Then I think it became a bit much ...

But I just kept going because it was stuck in my head ...

I think I have decided that needs to be a theme song ...

I think all the things we (I) do each day should be worthy of

Can you think of things you have done that would qualify you to rock in your school shoes?

Can you think of things you can do?

That is my challenge!

Go rock those school shoes! :)

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Nonfiction LIteracy and Current Events

I heard of a great web site on Edmodo this morning. The website is Newsela. This has informational text and current events in several different subjects. This web site is free, has leveled reading passages, and built in quizzes (for some of the articles). 

Teachers need to register for this site, but they can then create a classroom for their students to join. The terms of service state that you must be 18 to create your own account, but teachers can create accounts for students under 18 with parental permission.

On several articles there is an anchor with a number beside it. This is the ELA Common Core Anchor Standards. When you choose an article to read (teachers who create a class can assign articles to students; read about it in the FAQ section), on the right hand side is a blue bar. This allows you to differentiate between Lexile Levels for your students. Not all articles have quizzes attached to them, but those that do give you the grade level and standard that it meets. These articles would be good for grades 3 - 12.

If you would like to know more about Newsela, they have a wonderful FAQ section.

image created by Dorene Bates at wordle.net

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STEM: Strategies That Engage Minds

When you hear or think about STEM, what comes to mind?

Is it just Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math?

Or is it something more?

What are the connections between those topics?

Is there anything that you do that does not involve one of those areas?

I heard a new meaning for the letters in STEM yesterday from Cindy Moss:

Strategies That Engage Minds

Here are 5 STEM Resources to explore:

• Engineering is Elementary
• Connect A Million Minds
• Edible Schoolyard Project
• Academy of Achievement
• Gooru: A Search Engine for Learning

What resources and ideas did you learn about and/or share yesterday? 

photo credit: @Doug88888 via photopin cc

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Wonderopolis has a new look!

And new features ...

You can search by Common Core Standards ...

There are even some questions to go along with the text passage ...
 

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Let's Celebrate Children's Book Week!

Did you know it is Children's Book Week?




In celebration of Children's Book Week, Here is a list of 10 sites which offer children's books online )most of the offer a read aloud option too):

• Online Storytime from Barnes and Noble
• Online ReadAlouds for Kindergarten
• Read To Me
• Speakaboos
• Online Picture Books Read Aloud
• Between the Lions from PBS Kids
• SillyBooks
• Mighty Book
• Online Read Aloud Stories
• Mem Reads Aloud

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Chat With A Future Astronaut

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I talked to someone today who has set a goal and is working towards it! 

As a result of my NASA Launch Adventure, I have become much more interested in things related to NASA, space, and astronauts. That interest led me to Astronaut Abby ... Have You Heard About AstronautAbby?

I had such a great chat with her about her dream and the steps she is taking to get there!

We recorded the chat so you can watch it below!




What is your favorite thing she shared?

Did you learn something?

I know I did!

Abby and I would love for you to go explore her website, http://astronautabby.com/, and check out the many possibilities there!

I can't wait until Abby and I get to chat again!
_____________________________________________________________________

There are ways you can use technology to bring people like Astronaut Abby into your classroom!

We can help you use technology to find people to bring into your classroom too!

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The Good, Bad and Ugly on Ladibug 2.0 Software

2.0 or not 2.0 that will be the question that is answered hopefully at the end of this Blog post.

Recently the Lumens company has updated its software for its famous Ladibug brand document cameras (Doc Cam).  When Lumens decided to update from the earlier Queue to Ladibug software it was a huge transition for users to get accustomed to, but was also leaps ahead in the features that it offered.  Now recently, the Ladibug software has gone through another transition as it has upgraded from version 1.1.. to version 2.0.3.

Let's take a look at the changes and talk about the Good things.  One of the obvious changes that you will notice is that when you activate the software and hover over the Ladibug Icon you will only see a 4x4 grid.  If you remember in the earlier version you hovered and saw a 3x3 grid and then had to click the Advanced button to see the 4x4 grid.

On the 4x4 grid there have been a couple of new feature icons that have been added for you to use along with the ones that you have become accustomed to.

One of them is the Mask Mode, which is similar in look to a cover shade over the information. If you remember putting a sheet of paper over the overhead machines to block certain information you were sharing this will be the same, just through the software.

The other is the Spotlight Mode, which allows you to focus in on an area of the screen while blocking out the rest of the viewing area.



The biggest change that you will notice when you turn on the software that is completely different on version 2.0.3 is in the viewer window when you click the Display Live Image button.

You will now see something extra, the Thumbnail Viewer, which is attached to the left side of the viewer window that offers some additional available options that you have not had the ability to do before.



Any images that you take with the Camera Button will display in the thumbnail viewer for you to use.  To display one of the images, click the Thumbnail you want to use.  To go back to the live image hover over the Ladibug Icon and click the Display Live Images button again.

Some of the other features on the toolbar are:

• You can Save the Image anywhere on your computer.  
• Open a Directory of Images from your computer, CD-rom, Thumb Drive or other removable storage device to display inside of the Ladibug software. 
• You can Delete items in the viewer that you do not want.  
• You can also email images directly from the Ladibug software 

Now you know whenever there is good I always seem to find something bad to go along with it.  Well the only thing that I could find can count as both bad and ugly at the same time.  The Delete feature is the culprit that has caught my attention.  I said earlier that you can open a Directory of images and bring them into the document camera and use them in the software.  Well you will need to make a copy of all of the images first before you open them in the Ladibug software.  What happens is that the software does NOT create a duplicate of the image, it attaches to the original.  Why is that bad you may be asking?  Well it comes in when you want to Delete an image you no longer want to use.  If you Delete an image that you have pulled from a Directory.  It is permanently deleted from the original location.  Yes gone for good, I learned the hard way believe me, I lost an image that I did not have a duplicate of.  

So all in all the software update is great and so much more user friendly that its predecessor with the exception of the Delete feature.  I would have to challenge Lumens to work on fixing the system so that it will duplicate the images when you open a Directory of photos to use in the software. 

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This Little Teacher Went to the App Store

This little teacher went to the Apple Store.  This little teacher stayed in her classroom.  This little used lots of technology.  This little teacher used none.  This little teacher went wah wah wah all the way home.

photo by edenpictures

Which little teacher are you?  Which little teacher do you want to be?  These aren’t all the little teachers out there, just the number of toes on one foot!  There are many many more types of teachers out there.  In today’s world there can’t be much talk about teachers without the word technology popping its name up.  So how important is technology and when integrating technology what’s really important?

Over the past year I have had the wonderful opportunity to oversee a few classrooms in our district where each student had access to a device provided by the district.  Some had laptops, some had tablets.  The teachers and I were truly excited about the opportunity for each kid to have a device.  We spent hours in the summer exploring the devices, exploring classroom management of the devices, and also exploring new ways to teach.

What’s the most important feature in their classroom?  In our field, Instructional Technology, we often look at the technology and train teachers on the technology.  With these classrooms we tried something a little different.  We looked at pedagogy!  Although, curriculum is the place to start these teachers had just spent much of their time with the new Common Core and Essential Standards.  They had the content knowledge.  

Pedagogy!!!!  That was the place to start.  Or was it?  We have stressed and  evaluated over the year our different lessons and looked for ways to improve.  Many of the teachers in the pilot have shifted from front of the classroom teaching to more authentic learning using PBL or a similar methodology.  There have been many great successes in student learning and each teacher has grown tremendously in making their classroom more authentic.  This change has led their technology implementation rather than the technology taking the lead.

But is this really the most important piece?  In a recent blog post I expressed how important listening, reflecting and understanding human needs are.  In my opinion, there is no piece of technology that can replace this critical piece.  Relationships are most important when motivating anyone about anything.  So with that, positive relationships and building trust in the community should come first when it comes to technology integration in the curriculum.  We must take this time!

It is the critical first piece that we often times neglect.  Sometimes we get so busy and hear the buzzwords technology yada yada that we forget the persons behind the technology integration.   What if we first turned off the buzzing so that we could truly connect with the important people that could make this integration truly happen?

Photo by: Cindy Andrie

The revelations from this past weekend and the experiences I had come at a perfect time.  Our district is moving to a Mobile Learning Community (MLC) environment.  This is similar to many district’s initiatives of BYOD or BYOT.  With the movement of students bringing in their own devices there are many questions that arise.  What if kids text during class?  What if they are on different websites than the one I directed?  The list of what ifs could go on and on and on.  

In thinking about these questions my big “what if” is, What if we build positive relationships with trust, respect, communication and forgiveness with our teachers and students?  With these attributes, many of the questions and concerns that we have will fade away.  Many of the issues we think we will have or have had in the past will simply become non-existent.  Relationships are hard work but when cultivated and tended with care, the results could be plentiful and exciting.  

Just imagine a world where teachers and students go wee wee wee (with excitement) all the way to school and all the way home.  

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Mastery Learning...One teacher's experience!

I was recently at Kennedy Learning Center and observed Yvette Thiel trying mastery learning with her students.  I was blown away by the research, preparation, implementation and reflection that she had done.  I asked her to share her experiences as a guest blogger.  Below is her experiences.

"I have been experimenting with technology in my 8^th grade math class and am able to have one-to-one with students and computers.  Along with this, I have also been experimenting with mastery learning.  There have been some bumps to work out but, overall, I am very excited about the results that I am seeing. My entire class period is not all online.  I tend to think of it as a modified flipped classroom.  They are getting the videos in school.  And during that time, I am free to support other learners as the work out the tasks they are given.

The weeks work is prepared ahead of time and I create individual packets for the students.  The front page of the packet details the tasks that the students are to complete for the week.  Each task lists an Essential Question, how students may work (alone, pairs, group, with teacher), and what checkpoints they have to complete.  Checkpoints are what I call my formative assessment prompts.  Students check in with me at designated times to be sure they are on the right track. At that time I can adjust any misconceptions or confusions. I also provide a rubric for any work that will not be expected to be perfect.

Students are all working at their own pace, so often I am able to conference with students one-on-one or in small groups.  These conferences are very brief.  But because students are all working I have time to address their questions.

I keep a checklist of where students are at in the process.  The best part is students who are absent just jump in where they left off.  I do have some students who lag behind everyone else.  However, these same students are the ones who were not completing work before.  My demands for mastery have forced them to complete work and to a high standard.  I also keep these students for tutoring times if I need to. As a result, their productivity has increased.

Each packet begins with a PowerPoint that I have created and uploaded into a Voice Thread.  Students access this video through Edmodo. The packet has a copy of the slides so the students are able to follow along with me and complete the examples.  Often times, students will re-listen to these videos throughout the week or before a test if they are confused or want to review. Some will even listen to slides more than one time.  I love this.  I don’t find myself so frustrated for having to repeat myself.

I found some other videos online that I thought were fantastic.  But some students really struggled with them.  They like when I prepare my own videos better and have the handouts for them to follow along with me. It is crucial I don’t get long winded on these videos.  I have to be straightforward.  If they need a repeat they can rewind.

Videos are not the only thing I use. I use a combination of many types of activities.  I have purchased a few aps from Edmodo and sometimes I have activities for the students to practice using one of the Aps.  Or I locate something online that will help them practice the skill. I am trying to use some tasks from Georgia and performance tasks from other places for the students to complete in groups or with partners.

At the end of the packet, I have an online assessment for the students to take.  I have discovered that if I give them a practice assessment I can address, one more time, misconceptions or any confusion they may have. As a result test scores are better. Meaning I have less need for remediation. I have discovered that frequent assessments are better than waiting to the end of a unit.  I try to break each week into a mini-unit with a quiz at the end.  However, because students work at their own pace not everyone is finished at the end of the week.  They carry over to the next week.  Therefore, the pacing is flexible for each student’s needs.

I am still trying to work things out to make sure that everyone is learning the most in each class.  Sometimes it seems a little chaotic with so much going on.  But the productivity for individual students has greatly increased.  I think this is more due to the mastery learning.  Knowing that they can get an A they just have to keep trying has been very motivating for some of my more unmotivated.  Using the videos and the group work gives me the opportunity to facilitate student’s individual learning." 

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