Weblogg-Ed- Brilliant!

On my blog, I follow a number of "cool" educational blogs. I have to admit that I don't always have time to read everyone of them, but I do try. Today I was reading Weblogg-ed by Will Richardson and I was struck by his reflections of the Educon and the actual website itself- not a conference, but a conversation. Isn't that interesting?

Quite often when I attend or I speak to a colleague that has just attended an educational conference, they (and I) are underwhelmed. This is not a shot at the organizers or presenters, but it is a common thread. I always find that the most meaningful experience that I have at conferences is the interaction between my fellow teachers and librarians. The conversation that we have and the experiences that we share seem invaluable to me. I'm either inspired or I feel my confidence rise because I know that I'm not the only one who does this or I am doing something right or I just helped someone else!

Maybe we need to have more conversations and less conferences!?

I also really liked Richardson's quote that he created from his reflections:

Stop complaining. Be the change. Love your students and do well by them. If that includes technology, so be it.

Wow! That may be my new motto in the school- that just sums up what I think about technology in teaching. Teaching is not a linear profession; it is circular, web-like and full of change. We are supposed to be leaders for students and our actions and responses are being watched and absorbed. We expect our students to roll with changes and accept the new ideas and tools that we present to them, but so often we ourselves are not willing to be so accepting. So do as Richardson says and if it will help your students, be like Nike and "Just Do It!".

My beliefs about learning...part 1

For this blog entry I am really taking a good look inside myself, my teaching beliefs and my classroom practices. I'm finding it hard to put these thoughts and feelings into words, but I'm gonna give it a try:

I believe in the individual learner. I believe that we all learn differently, but that we are also capable of learning the same way- depends on the subject matter. I think that most people are visual and auditory learners and that a combination of both delivery methods will reach most students.

In speaking with other teachers in my school, I do find a few teachers that think the same way as I do, but I find many more who believe what I do, but teach their content very differently. I have also found a few teachers who do the same thing on the day they started (10 plus years ago) as they do today. I believe that you have to change it up a bit and continue to perfect it as time goes on.

After reading some of the information posted on our wiki, I think that I am actually a behaviorist believer to some degree. I think that the environment plays a huge part in learning and how students learn. I think that this part of me comes from my own learning experience and my role as a teacher librarian- a pleasing and stimulating environment stimulates learning. I think that environment also includes the people in it, such as teachers and support staff. Their beliefs and attitudes can also influence learning.

Rightly or Wrongly, I seem to approach teaching regular classes and special ed. classes differently. In a regular class, I feel a lot of pressure to get through a great deal of content and information. I have to complete my four units by the end of the semester, so my delivery is designed to get the most content to the kids in the shortest amount of time- I use overhead notes, lecture and handout information that they have to use when they are doing their homework. When I teach my special education classes, I feel that I am able to slow down, read information and discuss it, I watch more educational videos (to reach visual learners) and to be able to review and go back over information if the students don't understand. As I think about my teaching, I feel that I do a much better job of teaching special ed than the regular courses because I am more conscious of their needs- why am I not conscious of regular students' needs? They also have different learning styles and needs, so why do I not adjust my teaching for them?
This is something that I need to look at for my future teaching assignments.

I think that technology has a large part to play in reaching different learners and in our classrooms; I use technology to help students visualize concepts, through overhead diagrams, interactive websites and my Smartboard. I also use live streaming websites to access videos and information that would otherwise be unavailable to me and my students. I don't think that technology is the end all- be all, but when used as a tool and not a crutch, I think it enhances student learning. I enjoy taking these types of classes to find out how I can use technology in new and different ways.

Katie

Second Life and Second Chance

Top to Bottom: Me in Macedonia, on the top of the Eiffel Tower and in the Globe Theatre!!

When I first signed up for Second Life and logged onto the program, I didn't know what to expect. I found the process of getting started quite easy and I adapted to the controls pretty quickly. I found that they were a lot like the controls of first player video games that I have played on my PC in the past. I actually remember thinking that SL was quite a lot like one of the games I have been playing. I did have trouble with customizing my avatar and am still working on that process.

I met with my group and had to type my chat because I forgot my head set at school. I didn't find that there was any problem with this and I was able to follow the group and what was going on. I did find it very useful to have our leader on audio, so that I could listen to her instructions and follow along. Some of the videos worked, others didn't and the ones that did, I didn't find all that useful for me.

I didn't really have any feelings about SL until I went back a couple of times on my own- I went to Dublin (one of them) and thought things were really cool at first and was quite excited. I then went into a pub and completely got the heebie jeebies! I felt as though I was walking into an actual pub on my own and I didn't know anyone- except this was worse, because not only did I not know anyone, I also didn't know what they actually looked like. I felt very uncomfortable and I didn't end up staying long.

After this experience, I was very unsure of exactly how this program could be used in an educational setting. I'll be very honest and say that I thought that I would play along for the class and read the readings for how to use SL in schools, but I would never, ever use it personally or professionally. I had written this technology off- so to speak.

I never went on SL again until my scheduled group meeting with my instructors. I was not looking forward to it, but I was blown away! This time when we met up we actually got to teleport to different places- Paris, Macedonia and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre!! I had so much fun that night, that I have been back on exploring other places. My attitude did a complete 180- I was a bit awed by that session and now my teacher-mind is starting to whirl. I can absolutely see how I could use this in my teaching!!

I have been telling other teachers about SL and my experiences and they seem quite keen on seeing it for themselves. SL is blocked by our school, but I have got a couple of them telling me that they are going to go home and sign up and try it out. I am hoping that my enthusiasm for this program will continue to grow with this course and beyond!

That's what I think about Second Life... Katie

My Coordinates

I used Option 1, The LoTi (The Levels of Teaching Innovation) Framework by Chris Moersch to find my personal coordinates. As I looked through the descriptors, I found that I fell in between Level 2 (Exploration) and Level 3 (Infusion). I tend to use technology more in my personal life and my other role as a librarian than I do in the classroom. I feel there are a couple of reasons for this: 1) availability of technology hardware 2)Classroom dynamics- some classes are not ready to explore new technologies or go beyond and drive their own learning.

My hope is that the school division will catch up with technology and it will be available for teachers if and when they would like to use it. I also hope to learn new and interesting ways of using technology in the classroom through classes (like this one) and other PD opportunities.

Katie

Reflections-Looking Back to the Future...

As I was reading Mirshra, Koehler & Kereluik's article The song remains the same: Looking back to the future of educational technology (2009) I was struck by the term "time". I think that technology is all about time.

I have long thought that the biggest obstacle for teachers using technology was time. We don't have time to see new technology, learn how to use it, learn how students could use it or how to use it in our classrooms. Our school divisions want us to get on the technology band wagon, but we don't always have the support to take on these new technological ventures. Mirsha, Koehler & Kereluik state, "Teachers are busy people with many goals competing for their time. Educators who are not skilled beyond basic usage will need to learn both the technology as well as how to use it instruction-ally--a completely different skill" (2009). I see this in my own situation; we are told that we have to start using a web-based report card program and are given one hour of "watching" instruction and expected to use it the next day and be proficient. The next time that we updated, they had people come into the school and allow us time to actually use the technology in a computer lab and set up our courses. Instructors were there to answer questions and I felt it was a much better way to handle new technology. Technology needs to be a hands-on instruction. We need to do it to learn it.

On the other side, teachers tend to use time as a battle cry for not wanting to try new things or to change the way they have always done things. I mentioned this in a previous post this month. Teachers are creatures of habit and many of us do not like change. Technology is change and is always changing. I find it a bit hypocritical of teachers to promote and encourage "life-long learning" when we, ourselves do not adhere to that way of thinking when it comes to technology. We need to model life long learning by making the time to learn something new or how to incorporate new technology into our classrooms and our subject areas. We have to be brave and show students and our colleagues that we are not afraid to jump in and learn new things. Take a chance.

I'm not entirely sure how to encourage people to move forward with technology and not retrace the past. My way of doing it is to model it for other teachers and hope that they will become interested and excited about new technologies. There are a few teachers on my staff that are really into technology and I find that when they talk about what they are doing in their classrooms and how they use technology, other teachers are very interested. Hopefully, if we continue to do this we will be able to convert other teachers into tekkies and it will trickle down.

All we need is time...

Katie

Welcome EC&I 832

Welcome to my fellow classmates from EC & I 832!! This is my little blog that nobody, but me reads... it started out as a project for a course I was taking through the University of Alberta that dealt with Web 2.0 tools. We were required to blog about a new tool every week, so anyone that may have some time to kill and an interest can find those postings in the archive.

I am having a pretty good day so far- I had to break the news to my staff that VHS is obsolete. The shock and horror that resonated through my office was startling. My email has been pinging all day with questions and concerns. The theme of the emails dealt with questions about converting VHS to DVD- I wasn't sure if that was legal. After some research, I found out that if I couldn't replace the video with a DVD version then we could convert. Sigh... course materials and flow will be ok- we will not have to change anything. We are very strange creatures of habit and a lot of us fear change. I feel that I am on the outside looking in when it comes to teachers; I am a teacher, but I also have to work with them and that is sometimes a challenge! Some can be so resistant to change...

I am taking two classes that deal with technology, so I hope that I don't get confused between the two. Not sure if I will have to use this blog for that class, but there may be some confusing postings happening here.

I'm sorry to blather on, but one of my New Year's resolutions is to post more often on the blog. I find it a good way to express my feelings about my professional life- instead of boring my family and friends who are not in the education field and have no idea what I'm talking about.

That's what I think today. Until next time... Katie

Welcome 2010!

A new year is upon us and hopefully a new attitude!

This school year I have been trying to incorporate my new SMART Board into my teaching. I am finding that it is much easier than I thought. The board has been in my classroom since the spring of last year. Our division offers a Technology Infusion Project grant every year- up to $4000 for projects that use new technology. Another teacher, Christa, and I applied to get a SMART board to use in Science 10, which we both were teaching at the time. We created an interactive periodic table using the Inspiration program. It enabled us to show students visually how different elements are related and how they react and bond with other elements. I've used it a couple of times and I think it is going to be fantastic when I teach Science 10 again.

This semester I am teaching modified science at the 10 and 20 level. I have used the SMART board way more than I thought I would. Last year it sort of hung in my room and acted as a very expensive projector screen. I made it a personal and professional goal to use it more and become comfortable with creating units using the Notebook Software. After the initial frustration with the program, I started zipping along with lessons. I think that I have reached my goal because I use the board almost every day!

Semester 1 is coming to a close in a couple of weeks, but my next class will be an Alternate Education Science and Social Studies class. I have found the SMART board to be a fantastic tool to reach all of my learners and the kids are really engaged because they think it is cool and it is a new tool, so it grabs their attention right away. They are also always very enthusiastic about coming to the front of the room and using it at any opportunity.

I am hoping that I will become more proficient with the software and be able to create more elaborate lessons and really wow the kiddies! I think that it will be fantastic for my Semester 2 kids and I hope that they get more out of my class with this new technology tool.

That's what I think about SMART Boards, for now...
Katie