Today we assembled as a faculty to kick-off the 2008-2009 academic year. This is an exciting day, especially for those of us who work most of the year, as old faculty return with tales of adventures from the previous ten weeks and we welcome in the new members of the teaching community at school.
Like many schools, we begin the year highlighting the themes and topics that we will address for the upcoming year. Last year, the school created a new strategic plan which outlined the areas of exploration for us for the upcoming year.
There are three areas of focus for us in the upcoming year. They are Diversity, Environmental Sustainability, and Service Learning. This is in addition to the technology agenda, of trying to create a cadre of teachers who will seed a professional learning community to talk and communicate about best practices, as we determine our future direction and whether we implement a 1:1 program.
What was interesting while listening to the various presentations from each of the leaders spearheading the initiatives was that our challenge is going to be how we progress in each of these areas, since we will be competing for attention and energy above and beyond the normal day-to-day classroom experiences. Many of the groups, including my technology vision, are going to ask teachers to meet, discuss, and develop priorities and action plans to further the initiative. It may be dangerous and we may be working at opposition to each other, which may cause neither of the initiatives to gain traction and momentum.
What is interesting is that the solutions, engaging students to take ownership, gathering buy-in from a diverse constituent base, develop curriculum that is more problem-based in nature, could be complimentary and brought together under a single umbrella.
Rather than being four different initiatives, we should try to consolidate our efforts into a single plan for 21st Century Learning. This way, we can combine efforts. There is no reason that they Environmental Sustainability project create service learning projects which utilize technology tools to create spaces for collaboration, communication, and allow for different groups to connect both synchronously and asynchronously to provide a wider group of diverse individuals to challenge and expand our assumptions, making the wisdom of the group greater than that of one part.
Instead of competing, we should consolidate efforts, so that each project can utilize the strengths of the complimentary other priorities while maintaining its unique identity.
That is our school’s challenge for the year, how to create a community and culture that is complimentary and builds cooperatively rather than compete against each other for the two most precious commodities for teachers, energy and attention.
This morning, I submitted my Google Teacher Academy application. The application process was fairly straight forward, with the exception of the need to create a one minute video on one of the following topics, either Motivation and Learning or Classroom Innovation.
This was the daunting part of the task, especially since I on August 11th, which coincided with the back to school rush. I had two weeks to figure out what my message should be, while at the same time I was having to create the variety of new accounts for each of the six virtual componenets of our North Shore community. What was the message I wanted to share and how could I make my presentation “sticky” enough to make others remember it, since the Academy is selecting only 50 individuals for this opportunity. There are a number of brilliant educators within a 90 minute commute of Chicago, so I know the competition will be stiff.
While riding my bike to work on Friday, I determined what my message should be. Influenced by our Middle School faculty summer reading of The World Is Flat, along the thoughts molded by the three most influencial books that I read this summer, Brain Rules, Here Comes Everybody, and Disrupting Class, I was able to shape a message which I am proud of, given two weeks to create the message.
Here is my message. I have my fingers crossed that the video and my application are worthy enough of an invitation to the Google Teachers Academy. Only time will tell.
It has been six weeks since I have posted my last reflective post. During those six weeks, I have attended NECC, the Laptop Institute at the Laussanne Collegiate School in Memphis, and a workshop given by Darren Kuropatwa at the Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School. At the end of these travels, I needed to back away from the immediacy of Twitter and time I need to create a post to spend both me time and family time.
I have been busy getting ready for the challenges of the upcoming school year. Over the next few weeks, it will become apparent what my two major projects, the ying and the yang, are for the upcoming year. After having the opportunity of meeting with our new faculty and spending more significant time with our new Middle School faculty, I am really excited about the possibilities for the upcoming year. Our new, younger teachers are coming into the school with skills and experiences that are deeper than in previous years. Many of them already have had experience with collaborative and visualization tools, blogs, Google Earth, and Google Sketchup. At my lunchtime conversations, the ideas are already beginning to flow fast and furiously. I know that I will have to be nimble to keep riding the surge.
I look forward to sharing our stories, my thoughts, and the obstacles that we encounter along the way during the upcoming year. I am looking forward to the wild ride.
In this session on Web 2.0 and Social Networks, the tried to walk the walk, rather than just talk the talk by having participants participate in a conversation which was difficult in the theater/auditorium that the session was in.
They also invited participants to engage in the conversation via a Chatzy room. Six people took up the challenge, three on-site participants, myself (vvrotny), Colin from the American School of London, and Annelise, a charter school teacher from Romulus Michigan, plus three off-site participants, Lucy Gray from the gate at O’Hare in Chicago, Sylvia Martinez from California, and Joe Dale, from the Isle of Man (ironically, the home of two stage 2008 Tour de France winner Mark Cavandish). Below is the conversation which took place during the session:
*Pamela* from x.x.x.1 joined the chat 2 hours ago
*Pamela*: This is our backchannel chat - join us if you’d like!
*ASL_Colin* from x.x.x.1 joined the chat 2 hours ago
*Jenny Z* from x.x.x.1 joined the chat 2 hours ago
*vvrotny* from x.x.x.1 joined the chat 2 hours ago
*vvrotny*: I am hoping that you will send the URL so I can link to my
blog later
*vvrotny*: my twitter username is vvrotny
*vvrotny*: all my social network id’s are vvrotny
*vvrotny*: shameless plug, my blog is Multifaceted Refractions
(vvrotny.edublogs.org)
*vvrotny*: I have been using CoverItLive for many of the sessions that I
have been attending here at the conference
*vvrotny*: Many of the products are using OpenID
*Lucy Gray* from x.x.x.166 joined the chat 2 hours ago
*vvrotny*: Ning is using OpenID
*Lucy Gray*: Hi!
*Lucy Gray*: I’n here to heckle
*vvrotny*: @Lucy still at the airport? Welcome
*Lucy Gray*: Yes, still at O’Hare
*Lucy Gray*: don’t know why I am delayed
*Lucy Gray*: What’s Pam’s session>?
*vvrotny*: Talking about problems - one of the major part is multiple logins
*josef* from x.x.x.1 joined the chat 2 hours ago
*vvrotny*: Web 2.0
*Lucy Gray*: I agree.
*joedale* from x.x.x.4 left this message 2 hours ago:
Hi everyone. This is a backchannel to ?
*vvrotny*: Making it a discussion
*joedale* from x.x.x.4 left this message 2 hours ago:
Is this like Cover It Live?
*vvrotny*: @hi joedale it is a conversation about Web 2.0 tools. Making
it more interactive by having discussion and chatzy
*vvrotny*: This is like CoverItLive
*Lucy Gray*: I think I’ll try Cover It Live at BLC….
*joedale* from x.x.x.4 left this message 2 hours ago:
What is the conference you are referring to?
*vvrotny*: This is from the Laptop Institute
*Lucy Gray*: I’m in Chicago, but following the Lausanne Laptop institute
from afar. I’ll be at the building learning communities conference this week
*Lucy Gray*: I’m in Chicago, but following the Lausanne Laptop institute
from afar. I’ll be at the building learning communities conference this week
*vvrotny*: Talking about social networks and interactions between
faculty and students
*vvrotny*: Isolating students and adults is not always best - Bruce Dixon
*vvrotny*: Bruce is from aalf.org
*joedale* from x.x.x.4 left this message 118 minutes ago:
Is the discussion on UStream or is it just here?
*sylvia* from x.x.x.166 left this message 118 minutes ago:
hello
*Lucy Gray*: Hey Sylvia
*vvrotny*: There is no ustream at this point. Would be difficult to do
in this discussion based format in a theater.
*ASL_Colin*: Would schools be willing to share their various NINGs so we
could see what other schools are doing?
*Lucy Gray*: I run this ning http://globaleducation.ning.com
*Pamela*: Not unstreamed no
*Pamela*: What other Nings exist?
*vvrotny*: http://laptoplearning.ning.com This was started by Julene
Reed, who presented here yesterday
*joedale* from x.x.x.4 left this message 115 minutes ago:
Nice dropping by. I’ll see you guys later. Cheers.
*vvrotny*: http://isednet.ning.com is the Indpendent School Ning
*ASL_Colin*: Independent School Educators Network is at
http://isenet.ning.com
*ASL_Colin*: beat me to it
*sylvia* from x.x.x.166 left this message 114 minutes ago:
hey lucy - stuck in the airport still?
*Lucy Gray*: There’s another one by an afterschool program where I work.
Click on the tab at the top of this page and request to be admitted:
http://www.iremix.org/
*vvrotny*: I wish this presentation was in a physical space that was
more intimite and allowed for better chance for ustream
*vvrotny*: @sylvia are you remote? Where are you?
*annelise* from x.x.x.1 joined the chat 114 minutes ago
*Lucy Gray*: Yep, Sylvia… I haven’t had many delays this summer, so
I’m okay with it
*vvrotny*: @welcome annelise
*Lucy Gray*: Here’s another Julene ning: http://globalgreen.ning.com/
*annelise*: thanks for the sample links
*Lucy Gray*: Bernie Dodge just started a WebQUest one
*Lucy Gray*: Bernie Dodge just started a WebQUest one
*vvrotny*: We would benefit by allowing skeptics talk. This is the
diversity of ideas that allows for a greater wisdom of the crowds,
rather than listening in an echo chamber
*annelise*: I’d like to start a ning in our district this year and
needed some good school smples to show to administrators
*Lucy Gray*: http://webquest.ning.com/
*Lucy Gray*: Punahou Lab School ning: http://PSTechLS.ning.com/
*ASL_Colin* from x.x.x.1 joined the chat 112 minutes ago
*vvrotny*: We are in the midst of setting up a ning for our English 12
classroom. Setting it up next week. Will post on my blog when completed
(vvrotny.edublogs.org)
*vvrotny*: We are doing it right now as a private walled garden
*Lucy Gray*: NECC ning http://necc2008.ning.com/
*Lucy Gray*: Smartboard Revolution http://smartboardrevolution.ning.com/
*vvrotny*: Catherine Cook in Chicago is tracking and not locking. Most
difficult - educating parents as to why
*Lucy Gray*: NAIS ning http://NAISnet.ning.com/
*vvrotny*: Treat failures as teaching moments, a really great concept
since they will stumble thmeselves when they are outside of school
*vvrotny*: Glad you can join us Lucy, you are providing great examples.
*Lucy Gray*: I’m a ning nut.
*Lucy Gray*: :)
*joedale* from x.x.x.4 left this message 108 minutes ago:
Bye
*vvrotny*: How do we challenge students to be better digital citizens
*Lucy Gray*: How can we challenge our students if we aren’t challenging
our teachers?!
*Lucy Gray*: How can we challenge our students if we aren’t challenging
our teachers?!
*Lucy Gray*: Oops
*annelise*: @lucy, how do you keep track of all the nings you
participate in? Doesn’t it get overwhelming?
*vvrotny*: What we are doing is trying to adopt the tools (nings, chats,
etc.) to model and give appropriateness. But because we bring to light,
will they be like the roaches and scatter to the next tool?
*Lucy Gray*: I don’t look at them all the time, Annelise.
*Lucy Gray*: They are tied to my one Ning ID, so that helps
*annelise*: there is so much out there, how can we contribute quality
with such quantity? I struggle with this
*Lucy Gray*: plus I track certain onesin my RSS reader
*sylvia* from x.x.x.166 left this message 106 minutes ago:
@vvrotny at home in calif. just had to answer phone!
*vvrotny*: @annelise I particpate actively in two or three at once. Lurk
on the rest
*Lucy Gray*: Do you use a news aggregator/ reader? I recommend NetNewWire
*Lucy Gray*: Don’t feel like you have to participate in EVERYTHING; jump
in when you can.
*Lucy Gray*: Okay looks like plane is boarding
*Lucy Gray*: I’m signing off… have fun
*vvrotny*: Need to give students a digital driver’s license. But parents
don’t understand how the tools can be used. Many are clueless and do not
know where to turn
*annelise*: thanks lucy
*vvrotny*: @lucy thanks. Have a great flight and look forward to your
reflection to BLC
*vvrotny*: Parents should ask students to show them what they are doing.
But as they become older middle-schoolers, students want to be more
independent
*vvrotny*: I have shifted the conversation to acknowledging that these
tools are here and how to detail
*ASL_Colin*: I like the idea of a digital driver’s license - 6th and 7th
graders can get “L” plates and earn the trust to take their laptops into
their own rooms
*vvrotny*: Parents need to shift from being a policeman to be a guide
and mentor. A direct quote from one of my parents after our parent
learning experience
*annelise*: are teachers using this type of tool (chatzy) during
classroom discussions?
*vvrotny*: We try to immerse our parents in a social network (we use
Moodle, so that they can understand what their kids are talking about )
in hybrid f2f and online classes in the winter
*vvrotny*: This year, we partnered using Skype with University School of
Milwaukee. A powerful experience which allowed parents to realize that
their problems were not isolated. Many parents had the same issues and
problems
*vvrotny*: there is power in numbers
*vvrotny*: I use chatzy in my classes and presentations
*sylvia* from x.x.x.166 left this message 99 minutes ago:
gotta run! cya’ll later
*vvrotny*: Need to let parents have time to experience and take baby steps
*vvrotny*: @sylvia thank you for coming in
*vvrotny*: American School in London required parents to come in to get
laptops and then provided instruction in some of these tools
*vvrotny*: ASL goes over acceptable use at the same time. Encourage
parents to collaboratively create home AUP
*annelise*: like the idea for student and parent to sit down and create
a collaborative agreement on home acceptable use
*vvrotny*: Go over philoshy of AUP at another school which I did not
catch the name of.
*ASL_Colin*: This year we also had a parent speak at the opening night
to give advice to the other parents about what to expect - it was much
more powerful for the parents to hear from another parent who has “been
through it” before
*vvrotny*: Districts coming down on teachers who are using tools, blogs,
twitter, etc.
*vvrotny*: 6th grade put in program, excellent project. Parents come for
orientation of tablet. talk about digital citizenship and use the
egg/baby experiment. Has led to great success
*vvrotny*: At Peck, students had LARK, Legal, Appropriate, Responsible,
and Kind. Nice
