Connected Educator Unconference - iTunes U

I chose this session because iTunes U is something I don’t know very much about. We have the app on our iPads, but I’m pretty sure nobody at my school has used it yet. I knew that there were lots of resources for lessons, but really didn’t understand the magnitude of free help available to teachers using this app.

The session was presented by Rebecca Wildman, a fourth grade teacher at Boyne City Elementary School in Boyne City, MI. Rebecca is recognized nationally for creating engaging and comprehensive iTunes U courses aligned to the Common Core in the area of English Language Arts. The 75 minute session wasn’t nearly long enough, and I wish I could spend more time learning with Rebecca. I’d highly recommend following her on Twitter.

Rebecca showed us some courses in iTunes U. Since she teaches the fourth grade, her courses are more like units. They include a few weeks of work on one topic. When you create a unit you can write your own lessons and presentations or search and use those created by other teachers. You can change and update the content at any time. If you are using videos, books, or other materials that need to be downloaded it is a good idea to have the students do that all at once. Then they can use the course without being dependent on the Internet.

Boyne City Elementary is a one-to-one iPad school, and they are lucky enough to have a strong infrastructure and lots of teacher resources. They also have bought online books for their courses and are using them in the place of textbooks.

After working together to learn how to care for the iPads Rebecca lets her students take them home. Even if they don’t have the Internet at home, her students can access the content. And the great thing is that they can do so with their parents. One part of one of her lessons included having the student read the lesson with a parent (grandparent, older sibling, babysitter, etc.) and snap a photo of themselves doing so. They email the photo to Rebecca to show that they’ve done the lesson.

Students can type their work and email it to the teacher. But they are still able to use pencil and paper if they are more comfortable with that way of doing things. If a student forgets or misuses their iPad they are required to use paper and pencil for their work.

We looked more closely at two units during the session. One was on the Solar System and one was on nonfiction, using the Titanic as a research subject. Both were packed with interesting materials including books to read, videos, documents, images, web links, and apps. Students can use the materials over and over again to strengthen their understanding and knowledge. This frees the teacher to work more closely with small groups or individuals.

We didn’t have time to get into the actual creation of a unit, and I’m sure it took Rebecca some time to put these together. But once they are finished she will have them forever and they can easily be tailored to the needs of her current class.

Rebecca feels strongly that teachers should share ideas and content with each other for free. You can learn more about the way she uses iTunes U at the iPad in Education website.  And if you are ready to dive in, going to the iTunes U catalog and finding courses appropriate to your curriculum is certainly a place to start.

Connected Educator Unconference - Building a PLN

The first session I attended at the Connected Educator Unconference was about building a Personal Learning Network. I am nearing the end of my teaching career, but lifelong learning has always been an important goal of mine, so this session intrigued me. I’ve dabbled in Twitter for the past couple of years. In fact, I think it was instrumental in getting my money returned when my bank card was used fraudulently. But I knew there were ways to use it more effectively, and was ready to dive in.

The session was presented by John Bernia, a middle school principal from Lake Orion. I’d advise starting your PLN by following him on Twitter. He is very passionate about making his school the best place to learn and has lots of great ideas. And his commitment stretches beyond his school. His introduction stated that he is “striving to make the world a better place, one day at a time.” John is a Ph. D. student at Oakland University, and co-founder of EdcampOU and AdmincampMI. He  is also the co-moderator of #edfocuschat on Twitter, a monthly opportunity for educators to connect with authors.

The session started with John making the statement that Twitter is the best professional development tool that we have today. By the end of the session I believed him. His reasons were as follows:

1. Twitter is free.
2. You can access it quickly.
3. It's available on phones, tablets, and computers.
4. It's available 24/7.
5. It connects us to other professionals. 
6. It connects us to resources.
7. You can control your own learning.
8. It develops your digital footprint.
9. It helps you grow professionally.
10. You can use it to recognize students and staff.
11. You can collaborate with other educators.
12. You can find resources to pass along to other staff members.
13. You can talk with authors and/or experts in any field. 

I’ve heard people say that they are too busy to start using Twitter, and as a former classroom teacher I really understand. But those 140 character posts are gold mines. You just need to know how to know how to pan for the gold. And it is really easy.

One important step in using Twitter for professional development is the effective use of hashtags. This page lists some common hashtags used by educators. Searching for them and using them in your posts will bring you closer to people in your field all around the world who want to share ideas.

There are also Twitter “chats”. These are times when people get together and talk about topics of interest. Checking some of the hashtags will let you know when chats are happening. You can just read until you feel comfortable, but I'd suggest jumping in and posting. These people are just as interested in your ideas as you are in theirs.

John told us about the time he wanted a new perspective about a chemistry lesson he was teaching. He went on Twitter and asked if anybody had any ideas about the topic. Within a short time he received an answer from an educator in another country (Australia, if I remember it correctly). He ended up conversing back and forth with this teacher and eventually began counting him as a friend. Talk about having the world at your fingertips!

I had a great experience with Twitter when I missed the MACUL Conference due to illness. The links I found at the #macul14 hashtag led me to blogs, videos, and ideas that I would not have had the opportunity to explore. I started following some of the people who were using that hashtag to begin my own Personal Learning Network.

The presenters at the conference did not recommend using the normal Twitter interface. They suggested Tweetdeck (or Hootsuite for mobile devices). Using Tweetdeck allows you to view posts across several hashtags, each in a separate column. I set up a column for #connectededu, the hashtag that people at the conference were using, and immediately was able to see what people in other sessions were talking about. People are still posting ideas and comments using the #macul14 hashtag so I have that in a column as well, along with #edchat and #edtech. One column is just my Twitter home feed where my non-educator friends post. Twitter is fluid, and I'll probably be changing these columns many times as my needs change. 

This conference made it clear that Twitter is not about what you had for lunch. It's about collaboration and learning. And I'm sure there are other uses that I haven't discovered yet. I'd advise all educators to give it a try.

More From the Conference I Didn't Actually Attend

I guess it's not that surprising that I can use technology to enjoy a technology conference. As I posted before, I missed most of the MACUL Conference due to illness, but was able to use the awesome #macul14 hashtag on Twitter to keep up. Many fellow educators are still riding the high from this conference and posting about their favorite speakers and the ideas they brought back to their own classrooms.

So the inspiration continues. The Keynotes are online! I've only watched George Couros so far, but it's probably going to take me some time to digest all he had to say. Our theme at school this week is joy, and I used the "Be More Dog" video from his keynote with my 6th graders. I'm really looking forward to seeing Adam Bellow and Rushton Hurley. I found a few of the Lightning talks as well. Who doesn't want to be the teacher in Trevor Muir's "Hairline Crack"?

Twitter links have led me to amazing websites. One of them is called Two Guys and Some iPads. In addition to the posts and ideas on their site, the two guys do a web show. On the night before MACUL they interviewed Leslie Fisher, and she was as funny and enlightening as always.

Speaking of Leslie, I missed her new Augmented Reality session, but made it to Photo and Video Tips, Tricks, and Apps for Education. I went to the exact same pre-conference workshop last year, but knew that I would come away with familiar ideas reinforced and a head swimming with new information. Leslie did not disappoint. From small tips like placing your lighted phone underneath a drink to more complicated topics like megapixels and focus and HDR, she kept the room fascinated for three and a half hours. Even feeling ill I was sad to see the afternoon end.

There are still more websites to find, more ideas to try, more videos to watch, more edchats to enjoy. The anticipation for these opportunities sure helps when you're trying to "Be more dog."

#MACUL14

(I guess this blogging thing didn't work out for me at first. Trying again...)

I purposely used a hashtag in the title of this post because the main thing that allowed me to enjoy the 2014 MACUL conference was Twitter. Unfortunately I spent much of the conference at home, alone, sick as a dog, lying on my couch.

I did go to the pre-conference workshops on Wednesday, and they were awesome, but I was already getting sick at that point. By Thursday I had to go home. It was so disappointing because MACUL is one of the highlights of my year.

So I started reading the #macul14 posts on Twitter, partly because of the funny posts being put up by "MACUL E. Culkin", an anonymous and hilarious twitter poster. Pretty soon though, I began clicking on some of the links people were sharing. And, wow, it was like being at a mini MACUL conference in my living room.

I'd used Twitter halfheartedly for the past few years but never really understood its potential. The first thing I did was to watch a YouTube video put together by Erin Klein. Her website, Kleinspiration, contains a wealth of information too, but that's another discussion. Here's Erin's video. The beginning covers basic Twitter use, but I got some great ideas about setting up education lists and following inspirational people.

 

Some of the other twitter links I clicked on led me to great sites that I didn't even know existed. In addition to Kleinspiration, I found Edudemic, Teach Thought, and Newsela. I also read about some useful tools, like Emaze for creating presentions.

I learned about some great sounding educational Twitter live chats, saw fun pictures, read about iPad apps, found directions for doing all manner of technological tasks, and watched instructive and inspirational videos. One was this heartbreaking story.

Twitter. Who knew?

Class Dojo

A good friend of mine came across an interesting classroom management program called Class Dojo, and it's something I think I'd like to try. So far it seems to be in beta and is a free download. Their site description says, "Improve student behavior and engagement by awarding and recording real-time feedback."

I quickly set up two classes and changed the little icons. The children might even like to choose their own icon.

Then I edited my behavior expectations. Since I teach in the computer lab I set up these choices:

You can add more categories, but I do wish they had a few more icons to choose from in this section.

The idea is that you can use this program on your interactive board (or, in my case, just projected onto a screen). When a child earns a positive or negative behavior mark you just tap their name and choose the mark, giving immediate feedback. You can have the program running in the background on your interactive board and a box pops up when you mark a child. They say you can use your smart phone or iPad to do the marks. I couldn't seem to log on to the site on my android phone, but I'm going to keep trying.

Another great feature about this program is that at the end of the week or marking period you can quickly see what marks the class has learned as a group or individually. And you can email the parents a copy of their child's report with added comments.

Dilemma

I've been wanting to start a Tech Lab blog this whole year, but couldn't decide whether to let my students blog or just write about things I'm doing in the lab. It's amazing how quickly the year has gone by, and this year has had a lot of distractions. In the interest of finally starting something, I'm going to keep this blog for myself and work on student blogs later.