What's in Your Toolbox?

I've been thinking a lot lately about the variety of tools that we need to offer to our students in order for them to be successful. There are 1:1 computing initiatives across the country right now where the focus is sometimes more on the cool new device rather than the instructional purposes. Students are being given devices and teachers are working hard to design activities to fit the device. We need to reverse this trend.

My husband gave me a great analogy that I've been using a lot lately. He talked about having a saw as your only tool and how that would cause a lot of trouble around the house. You can't hang a photo with a saw.  Maybe you need a hammer in your toolbox. And a screwdriver. Even a pencil. You get the idea.

There is no 1:1 device that is going to meet all the needs of a student. There are arguments for and against all 1:1 devices that districts can afford, so we have to realize that we still need a variety of tools in our schools. One idea is to have sets of other devices in the media center for checkout to students or teachers as the need arises.

I recently read a paper entitled, "Education in the World of Choice."  The authors talk about how districts can move forward by offering choice while avoiding chaos. The illustration shows four models that districts sometimes follow: Cafe Fixed Menu, Cafeteria Buffet, Private Dining Club, and Sit with the Cool Kids. The paper gave me "food for thought" as we face crucial decisions about the tools and resources that we make available to our students and teachers. We don't want chaos with too many tools that can't be supported or sustained, but we also don't want to leave our teachers and students with a fixed menu that won't give us enough tools in our toolbox.

I would love to hear your thoughts on what tools you make available in your school and how you manage choice while avoiding chaos. What's in your toolbox?

ePortfolios and the Power of Reflection

In early September, I was fortunate to spend two days with Dr. Helen Barrett, the guru of ePortfolios. My district was able to bring her to Columbia to teach a group of teachers and district staff about ePortfolio creation. The timing was perfect - all the stars were aligned with our adoption of Google Apps for Education and our 1:1 computing initiative. Google Docs and Sites makes it possible for students to collect artifacts and share them through a showcase ePortfolio. As we move to 1:1 computing in our classrooms, students will  have easy access to the technology tools that they need to store and collect documents as well as reflect on the importance of their work.

One big idea that I came away with after the workshop is that there are levels of ePortfolio development. I went into the workshop thinking of ePortfolios as a showcase of a student's best work. I learned that the most important level of portfolio development is actually Level II, the portfolio as workspace with a focus on process and documentation of learning. Reflective journals are an important part of Level II. Students can use Blogger or other blogging and social networking sites to continuously reflect on their work.

As educators, we know the importance of reflection. I just received notice of my National Board for Professional Teaching Standards renewal which involved many hours of reflecting on my professional growth. The NBPTS renewal portfolio, while a showcase of my work and achievement over the past eight years, was most importantly a profile of my continuous learning as an educator.

One of my favorite college professors, Dr. Dan Barron, always used the phrase, "Grow or Die" to stress the importance of continuous reflection. A few days ago, I gave myself a few hours without Internet access, e-mail or phone calls to reflect on my work and think about improvements that might be needed. Over the next week, take time out of your busy schedule and reflect on where you've been and how you need to improve as you move forward. I hope you will feel renewed and ready to face the next challenge.

IT to the Rescue

The school year is off to a great start but with the usual technology glitches as teachers get back into their classrooms. Terrible things happen to computers and printers over the summer. In ghostly quiet classrooms, cables mysteriously disappear, printer ink evaporates, and cords become so tangled that it's difficult to get things up and running again.

On a typical summer day in the IT department, data is being updated and converted for the student information system, lunch systems are being upgraded, wiring is being installed in new and existing schools, new e-mail systems are being put into place, and the department is trying to comply with all of the state and federal regulations that sometimes dictate how things are done.

The multifaceted work of the IT department is multiplied when teachers are back in the classroom. The school instructional technology specialist and/or media specialist suddenly become IT support as they begin placing work orders and helping teachers get things ready for opening day. District technicians are pulled in many directions and feel overwhelmed by the number of problems. I'm sure that many technicians have terrible dreams at night about out-of-control printers spewing out paper and marching down school hallways.

As this new year gets underway, I hope that everyone in the school system can be tolerant of the problems and understand that everyone is working hard to support the work of teachers. Take a few minutes to look at the big picture and talk with the staff in your IT department to find out about ongoing projects. Here are a few things to think about:

• Flitering: I'm fortunate to be in a district that allows teachers to get to sites that may be restricted for students. There are times when uncategorized sites are unavailable, but that isn't the fault of IT. Any site that is new or hasn't been visited is suspect and it may take a day or two to have the site categorized. Be patient.  Realize that CIPA regulations keep districts in check and funding is withheld if filtering isn't in place.


• Bandwidth:  IT staff are constantly fine tuning bandwidth restrictions to make sure that all sites can be accessed.  If streaming video is allotted too much bandwidth and a teacher needs to Skype with another class, access may be dicey.  The IT department is trying to support the needs of all users in the district and additional bandwidth isn't cheap or easy to increase.


• Work orders: Most IT departments are severely understaffed with a limited number of technicians. What you may not know is that some technicians and district staff are working on the weekends and into the evening to get through the beginning of the school year.  Take a few minutes to troubleshoot before placing that work order, and thank the technician for helping out.


• Computer restrictions: Large districts with thousands of computers have to come up with workstation restrictions and standardized applications to make it possible to survive with limited funding and staff.  Technicians already spend hundreds of hours reimaging computers that have viruses.  Open the lines of communication by talking with someone in your IT department about your needs and how the department can best support those needs.

Let's all work together this year to provide our students with the tools and resources that they need to be successful in the 21st century. Spend some time talking with IT staff members about your needs and be sure to listen to their responses.  We're all in this together and communication is the best way for all of us to succeed.

A New Journey Begins...

Another busy summer is almost over, and I've begun preparing for the upcoming school year.  I had wonderful experiences at ISTE 2011 and made many new connections that will be valuable as my district continues planning for 1:1 computing.  My district team participated in two poster sessions and a birds of a feather session.  The educators who stopped by and shared their experiences with me reinforced my belief that we must constantly continue to grow and learn.

One thing I've been learning about this summer is making effective presentations.  I love the PechaKucha presentation method and decided to use my trip to Peru for my back-to-school presentation.  Going on a vacation adventure is a lot like starting a new school year so I used the theme "A New Journey Begins" to share my experience.

 
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHc5JRt-sec&w=425&h=349]

I hope you enjoy the photos and start thinking about how you can motivate your colleagues as the new school year begins.

Waiting for the Next Great Device

As I look back over my many years in instructional technology, I can remember all of the times when the news was buzzing about the next best technology.  I remember the first TRS-80 that I actually used for recordkeeping.  The company even "improved" on the device with the addition of a cassette drive.  Technology finally improved for education with Apple's introduction of the IIe in 1983.  And in 1992, my home life changed with the purchase of a Mac Classic.  I still have that computer (pictured above).  It's on a shelf in the basement waiting for the day when I pull out my directions for transforming it into an aquarium.  Which brings up the point that no great technology stays great for too long.

I spent last summer exploring all the uses for my new iPad.  I gave it a full workout at the ISTE conference and tried it out as an e-reader on my vacation to Mexico.  You can read about that experience in my blog post "And the Winner Is...".  The iPad is still a device that I use frequently when I'm at home for reading newspapers, magazines, and catching up on my Google Reader.  I absolutely love the Flipboard app for consolidating all of my must read content into one place.  I've also seen great uses for the iPad and the iPod Touch in classrooms in my district.

I must thank a teacher in my district, Casey Ellisor, for a comment that he made during a recent presentation.  He said that he had tried hard to make the iPod Touch work in his curriculum but that he just couldn't force it to fit into all of his class activities.  He did discover a great use for the tool, but the lesson that he learned is that you can't force a particular technology to work in every situation.

The newest device that I've been exploring is the Chrome OS CR-48.  I was fortunate to receive one this spring, and I've seen a lot of interest when I bring it into meetings.  I am incredibly happy with the notebook now that the OS has been upgraded to include file storage.  I'm able to upload files to the cloud from my flash drive, and I have offline storage if needed.  I can see myself continuing to use a Chromebook for personal and professional work.



As I wait for the next great device to come out, I believe that we have to be open minded to the possibility that we'll never have the perfect device.  We need to evaluate our needs and then select the best available device to meet those needs.  Our classrooms can and should have a variety of tools available for students to use as they work in and out of the classroom.  I look forward to continuing conversations with other educators about the tools that they are using in their classrooms.  We'll never agree on one best device, and that's a good thing since our needs are constantly evolving.

Reflection on One-to-One Computing Site Visits

Over the last three months, I've been on a wild ride learning about one-to-one computing initiatives around the country.  My district is in an exploration phase, and this explorer has seen a lot in the last two months.

I want to give special thanks to the neighboring school districts who have allowed us into their classrooms and shared a wealth of information.  A team from my district visited Gilbert High School in Lexington School District One (Lexington, SC) to see one-to-one computing in action.  The district has a long term plan for expansion of the one-to-one program and started with Gilbert as the pilot school.  I was impressed with the engagement of the students and the willingness of the teachers to transform their teaching.  We saw students in collaborative groups with the teacher as facilitator.

We also had the opportunity of visiting Busbee Creative Arts Academy (grades 6-8) and Davis Elementary in Lexington School District Two.  The students at Busbee use iPod Touches and the students in grades 4-5 at Davis are using iPads.  I came away from the visits with a firm belief that student achievement and discipline is improved when students are engaged in meaningful activities with the technology tools that are made available to them.

Through sleet and snow, I made my way to Pascack Valley Regional High School District in Montvale, NJ for an NSBA site visit.  Pascack Valley and Pascack Hills High Schools have been implementing one-to-one for seven years.  The depth of instruction was evident as we observed classrooms throughout the two day visit.  I met wonderful students and had great discussions with the Pascack students and teachers about how one-to-one computing has transformed their learning environments.

Finally, a large team from my district visited Lee County School District in Sanford, NC.  The district Information Technology and Curriculum departments worked closely together in the development of their one-to-one initiative which started with middle schools and has expanded to the high schools and elementary schools.  The lesson I took away is that teamwork is essential in a successful implementation.

Several of our committee members also visited Henrico County in Virginia and came away with a comprehensive understanding of the planning that is involved with providing one-to-one computing to all students.

So, where do we go from here?  We'll keep reading, keep exploring, keep learning, and start to plan the next steps.  We have several groups of teachers in our district who have been teaching in one-to-one computing classrooms, and we are grateful to have them on the implementation team.  Above all, we have students who are giving us input into what they want to see happen in their classrooms.  We are all amazed at the insight that our students have brought to the discussion.

What I've learned from this exploration phase is that it isn't about the device but about the learning goals.  The technology isn't going to transform a classroom unless the leaders in the district provide teachers with the time and support to create engaging work for students.  Students are digital natives, and we need to step into their world and let them be our guides.

More to come as this journey continues.

Changing Our View

I recently attended the South Carolina Council of Teachers of English conference and heard Kylene Beers speak.  She talked about No Child Left Behind and other timely issues in education.  Her opening quote was, "When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at will change."  That really got me thinking about how we as educators need to change our views as we move toward providing 21st century skills for our students. At one point during her speech, Kylene asked the audience to complete a seemingly simple task - moving your right foot clockwise while drawing a figure six in the air with your left hand.  Try it and you'll find out just how difficult it can be to learn something.  In order to complete the task, we have to unlearn the traditional method that we have been taught.

We get students in the classroom every day who are not going to be able to learn what we teach in the traditional way.  In order for those students to achieve, we need to look with new eyes at what we're doing in the classroom.  Transforming how we do things can be a very difficult task.  I talk a lot with others about the importance of a professional learning network as we try new strategies in the classroom and work place.  We need to be able to share ideas and have others challenge us.  By talking with another teacher, I was able to see how I could teach a child to draw that six in the air while moving his or her right foot in a clockwise direction.  Without the discussion, I would have taken a lot longer to find the solution.

One book that I would recommend for anyone looking to change the way that they do things is "Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard" by Chip and Dan Health.  The premise is simple: Our emotions are the elephant and our rational side is the rider.  In order to bring about change, we need to appeal to someone's emotions using compelling ideas and we need to change the path so that the rider must change in order to move forward. We need to find the balance between emotional drive and reason.

How do we get others to change the way they've always looked at things and see the classroom from a new perspective?  How do we get that student to succeed at a seemingly impossible task?  We have to change the direction so that the solution becomes more obvious.  Over the new week, try looking at the problems that you encounter in your classroom or office as a chance to find new and creative ways to solve those challenges.  Enjoy the journey!

Fail Often...Succeed Sooner

In October, I had the opportunity to attend the Schlechty Center's Working on the Work (WOW) Conference.  Phil Schlechty, the author of Leading for Learning and Working on the Work, provides a great professional development experience for participants.  I attended the Design 2.0 sessions and returned to work with great ideas to share with other teachers in my district.  As we walked through the process of designing engaging student work, one participant made a profound statement, "Fail Often...Succeed Sooner."  This video on the design process shows how we must go through a trial and error process to arrive at the right design for our customers.

The idea that we must fail is not very popular in education.  Administrators and parents expect their students to succeed, and many people believe that success is about passing rates on standardized tests.  As a result of these expectations, many teachers feel that they can't try new teaching strategies that might jeopardize the success rate of their students.  We settle for "ritual engagement" and "passive compliance" instead of "authentic engagement."  The only way to have actively engaged students is to know our students and design work that is meaningful and valuable.  And that process, as many of us know from experience, can be a bumpy ride.  Some strategies that we try will not work as planned, and we'll be back to the drawing board just like the designer in that video.

With so much on the line, how can we move forward in designing project and problem-based learning experiences for our students?  My suggestion is to create your own coaching circle of colleagues who can cheer you on, give you feedback, and be there for support when something doesn't turn out the way that you planned.  At the WOW conference, I was able to participate in a coaching circle as I designed a lesson.  I enjoyed taking the lesson back to the circle and having the participants ask me questions to help me with my design.

As educators, we must continually reflect on our failures and successes to provide the right learning experience for each of our students.  The key is to step out on a limb and surround yourself with teachers who are working through the same process.  Take that chance, and your failures will turn into brilliant successes.