And it is all about delivery....

Having sat through my fair share of professional learning, both keynotes and workshops, I am now stepping up to the plate to deliver my own.
This morning I noticed several things throughout my PLN that caught my eye and through I would continue to share on.

So....
Dear Presenters,

As much as I love a "sage on a stage" it is really important to ensure you weave a story that involves me and one that I can relate to and become passionate about.  A story where I have a "take - away moment".
I am in the audience to listen to you, to learn from you - not read notes, research and watch footage I can Google myself.
I ask of you to share with me your journey, to entice me into your way of thinking, to capture my imagination, to get me excited.  It is all about the way you deliver, your pace, your voice, your presence.

As these clips show - you can tell me about anything at all and it is all in the way you deliver it! 

   

21 Top Presentation Tools

Present Like Steve Jobs

Does EdTech Help Students Learn?

Read this today....
The Global Search for Education: Does Technology Help Students Learn?  from EdTechReview.
And it got me thinking...
1.  About where we place ed tech in the classroom
2.  The emphasis we place on it as "The Answer"
3.  How teachers engage, implement and integrate ed tech.

Just saying fellow Geekducators, technology doesn't "help students learn"!  It engages students in what they are learning.  It is no more a tool than a piece of paper and pencil, the paint pot, the diorama, the crayons.

A good educator is what helps students learn.

Oh should that be written like this?

A GOOD EDUCATOR HELPS STUDENTS LEARN!

A good educator will:

• Provide an engaging learning environment that excites the student.
• Pick the right tools for the students to achieve and be the best they can be.
• Differentiate - cater for all needs in the classroom.
• Deliver content that is interesting, engaging, purposeful and meaningful.
• Be a learner themselves.
• Be part of professional learning communities - share, collaborate and explore new ideas.

So there we have it.  It's not about the ed tech - it's about the learning environment the students are in.  This can be created anywhere in the world, using any type of technology, any teacher and with any class!

Handing over control...

I've read, heard and watched people discuss the issues of having open networks in schools. Goodness opening up access to the wide world?  Can't do that!

The issue isn't that we should or should not open up networks it is teaching students to be positive digital citizens.  Teaching students to do the right thing, trusting and guiding and assuring that it is ok.  To not be scared, to explore but safely.

It is our job as educators to educate! That is what we do - yes we can protect but we can't be there all of the time.  So here's a thought - let's educate our charges to protect themselves when they explore the online world.

Here is a great place to start:

K- 12 Digital Citizenship Curriculum



Also check out ISTE Student Standards

I RESPECT, I PROTECT

.... make this the students mantra....

The Coaching Approach

As a coach I found the following a nice reminder as to what is expected of coaches, what makes an impact and how to support change.
In a world where Technology Integration Coaches are appearing in schools as part of the road towards achieving 21st Century Learning, institutions sometimes forget that there is a bigger picture that the coach can be part of - not just a "fix - it" role.  The following reminds us that we are part of a bigger picture!

Find more education infographics on e-Learning Infographics

3 Little Things...

Back at school.  New kids.  New teachers.  Old issues that still need to be addresses yet again.

One big issue we face as teachers, especially is differentiating for the new students in secondary school.

I have introduced independently to many teachers this week 3 little things that are going to increase work flow for students, enable teachers to collect summative assessment pieces from those kids who are in academic Struggletown.

1.  Kaizena  (https://kaizena.com/) - give great feedback, provide ongoing verbal support.  Use it in conjunction with Google Docs. So far the response has been positive from students and parents.  Use it on the go!

2.  TechSmith Snagit -(https://www.techsmith.com/snagit.html) - screen casting apps and software is available everywhere but does it connect directly to your Google Drive?  Does it move the asset into a place where you can then decide what you want to do with?  My life of screen casting has been made so easy with this app and extension to Chrome.  Teachers can create simple explanatory screen casts and then share it with students.  I <3 Snagit!!!!

3.  Speech Recognition - Ok this is a Google Doc add on.  It is powerful and works the majority of the time.  Students who have problems getting their ideas down because they are stopped by their lack of literacy - not their lack of words, can speak into their mic.  What they say is typed - and might I say fairly accurate.  Students check it and it goes straight into their Google doc.

In large class sizes, where there is just one teacher - these three little apps, software options and add ons make life a whole lot easier to cater for all!

Celebrating the Back Channel - Day 3 ISTE #ISTE2015

The crowds thronged, the halls were full, the discussions were coming thick and fast.  It truly was a site to behold.

If you are a tweeter then it took an all mighty amount of concentration to stay focussed on the feed and what was being said.  Those who were wise created separate hashtags for events, sections and presentations.  This was a win! It separated the feed to what you wanted to focus on.

Although on the up side, that presentation that didn't quite cut it, then at least there was something to follow.  The back channel kept me entertained.

To those that posted links to presentations - I applaud you! You are my heroes, as today I got to virtually share many more sessions than I could physically make it to.

The power of the hashtag should not be underestimated.... use it to separate the feed, to focus on what you consider important.  So tomorrow hashtag away... post, create, collaborate and join in what it trending as an important back channel to an amazing educational event.

#awesome #collaboration #creativity #edtechynerds

It takes a village... ISTE day 2

Different start to the day, different ideas, different discussions.
Inspirational people doing extraordinary things in sometimes out of the ordinary situations.

I take my hat off to you....

I had conversations with those that are trying to move schools forward, to create change, to inspire and lead innovation in the next generation - not an easy job.

I met people that have made decisions to be change agents.  To not accept the "average".  To challenge, to create access and embrace diversity.  To give to those who don't have the chance to explore how their dreams can be realised.

These people are learners, they support each other, they find someone to help, they source experts.  They have courage, they have aspirations, they have hope.

They create a village.  A village where learners fail forward.  A village where risk taking is the norm.  A village where there is support, collaboration and creativity.  A village where dreams are realised, where individuals are celebrated - just because.  

Imagine an education system that contained all of these types of villages.
Imagine what would happen.
Imagine what our students would be like.

Whoooooweeeeee.  Now that's what I call hanging with my tribe - getting inspired!

Are you a change agent?

Have you created a village?

Are you part of a village? 

Is Educational Change Glacial?

Food for thought...

I heard today something that made me sit up and take note.
I heard "Isn't this the same discussion we had 5 years ago, 10 years ago?
It is the same rhetoric being moved from the back of the room to the centre of the room to the stage.  So what is different?  Is it changing in schools?"

This generated the idea that educational change and innovation is moving at a glacial rate.  Slowly pushing its way forward over the boulders, valleys and mountains.

We could say that the obstacles that a glacier navigates could be government policies, changes in curriculum, changes in leadership, changes to idea sets, changes in technologies.  I like to think that the pedagogical practice, the why and how of teaching is what is pushing this change.  Teachers wanting to inspire their students, involve parents and communities and show the obstacles that students are innovative, solution seekers that are gasping for engaging content and a purposefulness to their learning.

The other force of this glacier are the students.
Students want control of their learning.
Students want control of their learning environments.
Students want a large and varied selection of tools to choose from to create, collaborate and solution seek with.
Students want to be teachers and learners.

Then we must ask... are us as educators the rocks and mountainous obstacles on their glacier?

I recall participating in the conversations at the back of the room, then in the middle and now I sit and see it coming from the front.

When will the glacier stop moving?  Maybe it won't.  Will the edge snap off and float away on a stormy sea? Or will it become a thing of beauty with a hidden depth of knowledge, experience going on to encounter other icebergs? Or will it melt away, disappearing from sight, to become a distant memory?

My First Time @ ISTE

Well.. I am here.  It is huge.  It is over the top.  It is insane crazy.

I don't know how I feel about it yet.

There is a lot of reference to Common Core - I am struggling with this.
I don't use Common Core and there is word in ISTE that says International.  The last time I looked Common Core is only used in the USA.  The discussions I am hearing are the relationships of the ISTE Standards with Common Core.  More generic please.  If you truly want to be seen as an international organisation with international standards then the relationships need to be generic with curriculum contents.

I empathise with my fellow educators, my US colleagues, with what they see as a daily battle of engagement - not just with students but teachers as well.  But the journeys that others take, can be learned from.  Their experiences, their encounters, their failures, their successes need to not just be heard but listened to as well.  Learn form them.

This is just after day 1.

I hope that the next few days there are different discussions, different encounters, a more global approach.  I don't know.  But I hope so!
Go global people, think it, act it, learn from it.....

The Things You Find

Find more education infographics on e-Learning Infographics

What tech savvy teachers do...

I am in an extremely privileged position that enables me to walk in, watch, listen, learn in classrooms from K-12 in my school.  This means I get to spend time with tech savvy teachers and not so tech savvy teachers.

A few things that I have noticed with the tech savvy teachers is that they almost always:

• Research, try and link education technology to curriculum outcomes and school policy along with

  

  http://learn.susd12.org/course/view.php?id=360

  strong pedagogy.
• See which tools work best for students
• Discover what global colleagues are doing through their professional learning networks by following blogs, twitter, google+ or other social media.
• Thoroughly test products and trends before they invest or implement.
• Identify goals and performance indicators
• Visit conferences either in person or online and see what others are saying and add their voice
• Share - share - share!
• Unpack the analytics, get into feedback, find out what's working and what isn't
• Constantly researching, testing and learning.

Google Maps and the Early Years

Who said that Google Maps and Kindergarten would not be a positive mix?  

They were wrong. 

Currently working with 20+ students in Kindergarten (5 year olds) and street view.  They have discovered their place.  They are exploring their world.  Their is joy in sharing and knowing familiar landmarks.  The sessions where I get to sneak in and enjoy the sheer excitement of learning by these students makes my week. 

Are we ambitious?  Of course!  

Do we aim for the sky?  Absolutely!

Do things not work some of the time? Yes, but it builds solution seekers and resilience!

Do our students fail?  Uhuh - First Attempt In Learning!

The next step after we have explored our "Hood" will be virtual excursions.  This is where with an international client base we can wander the world from our classroom and there will be someone who has seen, been or planning to go! 

This post by Using Technology Better has inspired teachers in our early years to give Google Maps a go.  

http://usingtechnologybetter.com/using-google-maps/

With coaching from me and support in the classroom - what a journey we are having.  

WHERE TO NEXT KIDS???

Another thought about passion....

When I saw this it resonated with me.  I reflected on my work, on prior jobs, on things I do in my spare time.  I looked for joy.  The joy in what I do.  

Dean Shareski presented at a GAFE Summit in Singapore last year and talked about joy, about where is it in what you do?  In your classroom?  In your life?  If you pause and have to think about it then it truly is not a significant part of you day to day process.

IT SHOULD BE.

How do I bring joy into what I do?  How do I create wonder? Where is the passion?

1.  What brings you joy?  And no chocolate is not an answer for this! :)

2.  How can you add that thing that brings you joy into the parts of your day that aren't so joyous?

3.  What are you passionate about?  And no chocolate is not an answer for this!

4.  How do you thread your passion into the moments of ho hum so that the ho hum becomes passion?

Food for thought.

Being True to Your Passion

I read recently in Dave Burgess's book "How to Teach Like a Pirate"  that we must engage deeply in what we are passionate about.

As teachers we have to teach a wide variety of things that perhaps are really not our cup of tea, so therefore we aren't that passionate about it.  It doesn't mean we don't care any less - it's just.... well you know.

I sat back and reflected on what I teach and those moments of "ho-hum" and how engaged were the students.

Light bulb moment - they weren't engaged.

They were going through the paces just like I was.

Realization moment again - the content might be "ho - hum" but connect to something that you are passionate bout, use a tool that engages you as an individual.  Associate the "ho-hum" to something that drives you, create the links, create the passion and create the drive.

Yes it is the end of my academic year - yes the drive, the innovation, the ability to make the links, the creativity is waning.... but to get me through to the end - I am taking the time to develop my passion and guess what?

I am coming up with great ideas for next year!