Mid-year Reflection

As our teachers, students, administrators and staff start the second semester, I am looking back on the first half of a very busy year, in which lots of good work has been accomplished by our team.

I am going in to this semester as the only remaining tech coach, as my colleague has taken a teaching position at an excellent and tech-friendly school in our district. It will be difficult to keep up with the demand, particularly because our position has become so well-utilized by teachers during the last several months, but I plan to use and build on the resources we've been creating, such as our library of tech tip podcasts and our Tech Tools wiki, to continue being able to provide on-demand technology integration and assistance to teachers in need.

During the first half of the year, we responded to 338 requests for 1:1 assistance. This involved co-planning or co-teaching lessons or projects, answering questions related to websites, applications or equipment, helping teachers set up their classes on wikis, blogs or other sites, and helping teachers align the right technology with the content they want to teach. Every case was different, making each request a fun challenge to research and help solve.

Our increased "visibility" (most likely a combined result of being around for a second school year and sending our weekly tech tip podcasts via email to the district instead of just posting them to our web page every week) was evident in the increase in requests. At this point in 2011, we had worked with 268 teachers. This year, despite a reduction from three coaches to two (and now one), we increased our instances of 1:1 technology integration by 26%.

We also offered fewer training sessions than last year, due to the reduction in flex hours required for teachers in this year's budget, but our sessions were well-attended and highly rated. Most of our sessions have averaged ratings of 4 or 5 out of 5 by participants in their post-session feedback.

348 unique individuals took a flex session that we designed and presented so far this year, and I still have ten sessions left to offer before year's end.

The combined number of unique people from our sessions and our 1:1 help during the day is 364. That's 364 individual teachers since August. Wow! My running total over the past 3 1/2 years is up to 920, which is over 90% of our district!

The biggest impact we've had is on the students. It isn't quite as easily measured with statistics, but it is more and more noticeable when we go into a new classroom to work with a teacher and his or her classes that the students are becoming more familiar with the tech we are using, and are more willing to say, "We used that last year in Mrs. So-and-so's class. I can help with this!"

This is a difficult budget for anyone in education, so there's no telling what the future will hold for our technology integration coaching position, but one thing is certain. We have made a difference, both in ways we can measure and in ways that will reveal themselves down the road, when students apply what they have learned in future classes, in college, or in the workplace.

I am proud of the strides we've made, and look forward to continuing the journey as we march forward to June. :)

4 Things You Can Do RIGHT NOW to Increase Your Students' Tech Literacy

1) Have your students log on to the computers. Yes, sometimes they run slowly and can take up a lot of valuable class time while you wait for updates to download and students' profiles to load... but this is usually not the case in those classrooms where the students log on every day! If you log on to the network more regularly, and have students use the same computer whenever possible, you'll see the time it takes to get started each day greatly decrease.

2) What about an open-laptop (or -computer, -mobile-device, -phone) test? If you're worried about students using technology to cheat, try making the assessments something they CAN'T cheat on! Require an original answer/solution/writing/project based on research. Help teach them to think for themselves at the same time you help them become familiar with effective use of technology! Read more about open-computer testing.

3) Assign projects that teach technology operations and concepts. To complete the assignments driven by your curricular content, your students may also need to master tech skills, such as uploading files to the Internet or network, saving and converting files to different file extensions, editing web pages or web-based presentations and videos, and collaborating and sharing with classmates and other students. These projects can be slow-moving and frustrating at first, but you will be surprised how quickly your students learn to do what is required of them to complete these projects, and how well they'll apply that knowledge to future assignments. Check out these examples.

4) Provide options for assignments. Rather than direct all students to make a video using Windows Movie Maker (or one specific program or application you are comfortable using), instead leave the medium open to student choice, and focus your rubric on the essential content from your curriculum and the specs for the final product they must create. Not only does this free you up to focus on the content, it allows students to use different media that they find exciting, interesting and engaging. One student might use Prezi, one might design a web page, one might make a travel brochure or newspaper, and one might make a video. Interested in some new research behind this topic? Check out this piece from International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. With any age, the teacher does not need to be an expert in all the different applications and programs the students may choose to use. The teacher just needs to be an expert in the content, set the expectations and guidelines, and manage a room of students as they learn different types of technology. You might find, as I have, that we can learn a lot about the tech from our students as we teach the content.

NFL Picks ~ Conference Championships

Hello and welcome to a special playoff edition of Tuesdays. Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, I went 0-4 vs. the spread last week. Ouch. It's a good thing I do this purely for fun, and not actual money! Looking to bounce back and end the season on a high note, here are my picks for the conference championship round...

San Francisco giving 2.5 to NY Giants
LOSS
NY Giants 20 - San Francisco 17

Baltimore getting 7 from New England
WIN
New England 23 - Baltimore 20


CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS RECORD: 1-1-0

2011 - 2012 Record: 129-126-11
2010 - 2011 Record: 130-130-7
2009 - 2010 Record: 138-125-4
2008 - 2009 Record: 139-120-8

PBL, SBG, and DL

Project-based Learning (or Problem-based Learning), Standards-based Grading, and Discovery Learning are the cornerstones on which I want to base my approach to teaching when I return to the HS English classroom.

If I could boil down the four and a half years of professional development I have experienced since I left the classroom into one phrase, it would be, "Let's figure it out."

I would like to quote John Cleese and Eric Idle, and tell my students that they are in the "right room for an argument," because they will have to create and share projects that demonstrate their proficiency or mastery of every skill and essential content in the curriculum, and prove to me that their work actually does show their understanding, the same way most workers must convince their supervisors that their work is adequate.

I want my students to create an electronic portfolio of the work that they do to show their depth of understanding in each skill they master.

I want them to develop skills to face a new problem and work with others to solve it efficiently. This is what the workplace has become. We face new and unforeseen challenges, often stemming from human or technological advances, and solve them with human knowledge or technology.

I would like to get a few signs that say, "The answers are not found here" to hang on my desk, the chalkboard, the ceiling, the clock, maybe even my own person.

I want to say, "That's a good question," 100 times more frequently than I say, "The answer is..."

I want my students to know what they are learning, why they are learning it, and how to recall and demonstrate their knowledge.

Above all else, I want my students to find the answers for themselves, in real, authentic projects or problems that they help create, so they will be ready to face the challenges of their futures, adapt to change, and solve the problems they will face.

NFL Picks ~ Divisional Playoffs

Hello and welcome to a special playoff edition of Tuesdays. Like most of the country, I went 1-3 in the first round. I'm looking to pick up my overall record with this week's picks. Here are the picks for the Divisional round...

New Orleans giving 4 to San Francisco
LOSS
San Francisco 36 - New Orleans 32

Denver getting 13.5 from New England
LOSS
New England 45 - Denver 10

Baltimore giving 7.5 to Houston
LOSS
Baltimore 20 - Houston 13

Green Bay giving 7.5 to NY Giants
LOSS
NY Giants 37 - Green Bay 20


DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF RECORD: 0-4-0

2011 - 2012 Record: 128-125-11
2010 - 2011 Record: 130-130-7
2009 - 2010 Record: 138-125-4
2008 - 2009 Record: 139-120-8

Top Educators to Follow

For those who read Tuesdays with Swindy, you’ll know I am not a big fan of making posts that are just top ten lists – I guess I’m just too long-winded to limit myself to a list! However, this is a topic I’ve thought about sharing for a while, and a list seems like a good way to get started.

I use Twitter as a Professional Learning Network (PLN). In addition to colleagues in my school district, people I meet in ed tech seminars and training sessions, and a list-serve I belong to comprised of technology integration coaches from around the state, I find Twitter is a great way to learn what I need to know, what I need to watch out for, and what’s trending in educational technology.

I got my start in Twitter with some simple advice from a colleague, which I’ll pass on to you. “With Twitter,” he said, “it’s not about how many followers you have. It’s about who you’re following.”

Twitter can be a news feed, streamed to your computer or mobile device when you are ready to view it, and delivered by a variety of sources that you choose, all with their own knowledge, insight, bias, passion, and networks of their own.

Looking at trends is a great way to see what topics are buzzing, and following the people you see posting on these topics whose comments interest you is a great way to build a network for learning.

It’s not hard to get started. Log in to Twitter and type one of these popular “hash tags” into the search field:
#edtech
#edapp
#education
#edchat

You could also search for other topics or trends that interest you, such as a specific content area or grade level you teach. Then READ the posts you see from people who have participated in the subject you searched. As you find particularly insightful or interesting tweets, click on the user name of the person posting to read more from that person. If you like what you see, click “Follow,” and this person’s tweets will become part of your news feed (or “Timeline”).

This is the way I found many of the people whom I follow, but I also looked at who the people I was following were following. To that end, here are some of the many great educators in my Twitter PLN who I highly recommend.

Here are my “Top Ten” Educators to Follow on Twitter:

10) Angela Maiers (@AngelaMaiers) – Iowa - “Educator, Author, Speaker passionate about literacy, learning, and power of social media.”

9) Joe Mazza (@Joe_Mazza) - Philadelphia – Elementary principal (in our very own district!), “Univ of Pennsylvania doct learner studying tech's impact on Family & Community Engagement, Blogger for ParentInvolvementMatters.org, co-host of #PTchat”

8) Olweus Bullying Prevention (@Olweus) - Center City, MN – “Best known, evidence-based bullying program. Olweus is making school a safer and more positive place for students to learn and develop.”

7) Edutopia (@edutopia) – “Inspiration and information for what works in education.”

6) Kyle Pace (@kylepace) - Kansas City, MO. – “Instructional Technology Specialist and Google Certified Teacher. Always learning and sharing about education and tech. Ed.D. student. Edcamp KC organizer. Dad.”

5) Jimbo Lamb (@misterlamb) - Lebanon, PA – “Math teacher, Tech coach, soccer and hockey fan, reader of comics, major geek”

4) Dianne Krause (@diannekrause) – PA – “Instructional Technology Specialist, Medievia Goddess, Lifelong Learner, Mac/PC, iPhone & iPad Lover” (and one-time colleague in our district!)

3) Kristin Hokanson (@khokanson) – PA – “Technology Integration Coach~STAR Discovery Educator~PA Keystone~PAECT Regional Director~life long learner”

2) edReformer (@edReformer) – USA – “edReformer strives to develop excellence and equity in education through innovation and education reform.”

1) Steven W. Anderson(@web20classroom) - Winston-Salem, NC – “Educator, Speaker, Blogger, #Edchat Co-Creator, #140Conf Character, Edublogs Twitterer Of The Year, ASCD Conf. Scholar. Do You Use Social Media In Education?”

Want to make it a top 15 list? Also check out these 5 more great Twits:

Nicholas Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher) - Michigan - “Just a guy who likes to blog about education, technology and all things nerdy. The 'Lady Gaga' of teaching.”

Eric Sheninger (@NMHS_Principal) - New Milford, NJ – “Principal of New Milford HS w/ an interest in EdTech+Change leadership; Google Certified Teacher, ASCD Conference Scholar, Author, Speaker”

Shannon Miller (@shannonmmiller) - Van Meter, Iowa – “Teacher Librarian & Tech Specialist who loves connecting, creating, technology, Web 2.0, change, advocacy & NOISE. Connecting People Shorty Award Recipient.”

TEDTalks Updates (@tedtalks) - New York – “The official feed for daily TEDTalks. Only new TEDTalks are posted on this feed.”

Curriki (@Curriki) – Everywhere – “A community of education stakeholders who are working together to create quality open source materials that will benefit teachers and students”

Enjoy these great tech-savvy educators! Thanks for reading. See you next week.

NFL Picks ~ Wild Card Playoffs

Hello and welcome to a special playoff edition of Tuesdays. After a dismal 5-10-1 last week of the regular season, I'm limping into the playoffs only 9 games over .500, at 127-118-11. I'm still poised to make a good run at it with my postseason picks. Here are the picks for the Wild Card round...

Houston giving 4 to Cincinnati
WIN
Houston 31 - Cincinnati 10

Detroit getting 10.5 from New Orleans
LOSS
New Orleans 45 - Detroit 28

Atlanta getting 3 from NY Giants
LOSS
NY Giants 24 - Atlanta 2

Pittsburgh giving 8.5 to Denver
LOSS
Denver 29 - Pittsburgh 23

WILD CARD PLAYOFF RECORD: 1-3-0

2011 - 2012 Record: 128-121-11
2010 - 2011 Record: 130-130-7
2009 - 2010 Record: 138-125-4
2008 - 2009 Record: 139-120-8