I read some great advice this week during my research collecting...Start Small. Many times, as could be the case in our school next year, we are bombarded with all this fancy, shiny, new equipment and told how amazing it is and all the wonderful things we can learn and teach with it...but there is no training and we become overwhelmed trying to teach it to ourselves so we can teach our students with it. Or, we have amazing training and are so excited to share what we have learned with our students and then it just doesn't work. It's okay!! I think sometimes as educators and leaders, we forget that it is okay for US to fail...we always want things to go smoothly and be sunshine and sprinkles, when in fact it is anything but...
I have vowed to try one new thing a week, thus not overwhelming myself and giving up on everything! If I work with this one new thing all week, by the end of the week I should be a master (or at least feel more confident in my ability to do it). So, in one school year I would try roughly 40 new things in technology. I also plan to share my learning with my staff through an inter-school sharing site and ask them for their feedback on the tool for the week. I also want to challenge myself to use one of the new things during our staff meetings...maybe in turn encouraging them to branch our in their classrooms!
I also teach technology at our school for grades 5-8 and have learned new things this year, number one...when computers don't work frustration is not the answer. We have done lots of cooperating learning at one computer and though it is not ideal, it works. I am excited to have equipment that will work and show those students the power of collaboration with students from other schools. I want to incorporate their core classes into our collaboration, I am not sure how that will look yet, but there is a wealth of resources available to us. I want to learn and teach google docs, I have used it for classes in our program, but beyond that have not gotten brave! :) I would love to dive into social media with them but again am hesitant. I would love to see how a class/school has made this work.
It is easy to collaborate with our friends and classmates, but think of the things we can learn if we get the opinion of someone we have never met...they have no idea how we feel on the topic, thus would give us their own personal opinion. Collaboration is the 21st century skill and we are behind at our school, unless you count face to face, small group inside classroom walls...which after my research and this class, I have decided just isn't enough...we need to break outside our walls, even borders! Our students have great ideas, letting them share them with the world is amazing, I just have to bring it to reality!
Jenn-
ReplyDeleteI really commend your wanting to use one new tool a week. In the past I have set the goal of one for a school year! Maybe think a little smaller and say one a month?
You posed so many great questions in this post, what if you asked one via Twitter-- you might find some great answers about how to use social media with 5th/ 6th graders and / or how to collaborate with folks from across the world. Just a thought.
Jenn,
ReplyDeleteI think it is awesome that you are trying so many new things. I think trying one new thing a week would still feel overwhelming for me, but making a conscious effort to learn something is so important. I also like that you are looking to have students collaborate. In my research this week, one of the key qualities that I found for an effective online program was that it allowed students to collaborate in new ways, and it definitely seems like you are trying to do that!
Rob & Dr. Mausbach,
ReplyDeleteYes, an app a week may be a little ambitious. I know you wouldn't know the app inside and out in a week or really in a month. Also, when I think about "things" I am not necessarily thinking apps...Ipads, new website, AppleTV's...we are getting a lot of new stuff this year, so we may have to be ambitious in our endeavor. I know there will be some overwhelmed teachers and hopefully through collaboration we will get through our first year with a few minor bumps and bruises and be ready to cruise in year two. Think positive, right! ;)
Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI love your enthusiasm and agree with your plan to take a challenge a week, or so, and grow from there. It made me think of Eleanor Rooselvelt who said to do something hard--something that challenges you every day. I try to live by this and remind my own kids and my students of its wisdom. I also appreciate your attention to lessen frustration in the process. Our students are learning and listening from our approach to technology and if we are smart and systematic, they will learn to be good problem solvers. Thank you also for your green background. Reading your blog always cheers me up.
Jen-
ReplyDeleteI think you are going to really grow in the next year exponentially and become an even more valuable treasure for your school. I really like that you are planning to create a site and share your discoveries and ask for feedback. I think that really helps to set a great tone with your teachers and shows them how important using technologies is for your school and vision. It might also be a chance for your teachers to share things they discover too. We had an in-service on Friday for Canvas, as we are switching to that for our LMS and one thing that kind of kept is fun was having prizes. She had a shirt behind one of the computers in the front row and she gave out small things throughout the session for those sharing and she said that when she shares at her school for PD, she tapes things to the bottoms of chairs in the front and then the back, to help create movement and excitement in the beginning of her PD sessions. Not saying you need to do this, but just wanted to share as you brought up having PD for your faculty with your tech findings.
Your mention of frustration is something I need to work on. Last week we had a serious virus go through our network and it caused our faculty drive to go down--meaning no access. Fortunately, I migrated everything to Google Drive last year so it did not affect me on that end like so many of my colleagues but it affected my teaching greatly. The network was so bogged down that my students couldn't work as quickly and we lost 10 projects on Revit. That goodness for backups, but that pretty much causes them to lose a good portion as the backups are generally 15-30 minutes behind a "Save".
Your attitude is great with all of this and like you said, year 1 and 2 are very different and pose many changes and reflection time.
Jenn,
ReplyDeleteI love the title Start Small. For me the integrating of technology into teaching has been the biggest challenge. Just when I think I have a solid plan and am feeling comfortable there always seems to be a glitch that is out of my control. Whether it is the internet being down, or the network is slow or there seems to be a problem with a tablet, computer or ipad. It is at those moments when a teacher can tell if her lesson was well planned out if you can still carry on without those technology devices. Remember your own advice about starting small as you push yourself outside of your comfort zone and begin teaching with google docs and social media. Thanks for sharing. It's nice to hear how other colleagues are tackling the technology issues.