5 Things to be Thankful For in 2016

It is that time of year again when we are to be thankful for the many blessings in our lives. Many of us are appreciative of our strong friendships, healthy families, and love for life! I try to remind myself of the many things that I am thankful for on a daily basis.

Since it is the week of Thanksgiving, I figured it is time to write about 5 things to be thankful for in the world of education technology. Check out my list below. Feel free to comment with what you are thankful for in your world of education.

1. Evaluations
I know, I know. I am crazy. But how many times do you look back at a lesson and wonder just what others think? Over the years of teaching math, I had many lessons that I looked back over and critiqued. Considering the fact that most of my lessons were written and created by me, I didn't always have very much input from outside sources. Maybe I am hard on myself, but I feel that most of my lessons could have been much, much better, if I had someone else view it, give some positive feedback, and have their own ideas of how to make it better. I actually enjoy the process of being evaluated. And I'm sure that ever since teacher pay has been linked with evaluations, most of us feel like Dwight from "The Office".

2. Professional Development
Of course professional development (PD) would be in my top 5! It is one of my most favorite parts to my technology integration specialist position. I enjoy attending professional conferences so I can learn from others. But I really LOVE presenting PD to others and watching them when their light bulb goes off! You start to see the gears turning in their head and then see them start to think how they can implement that tool or tactic into their own class. It is a priceless view from a presenters standpoint.

3. Professional Learning Networks 

We all have our professional learning networks (PLNs) that we rely on to become better at our passion--which is teaching. Lifelong learning is a topic that gets thrown around quite a bit, but it is an attribute that I believe all of the best teachers possess. PLNs help shape the way we learn and teach within the walls of our own classroom. I am fortunate to belong to a couple PLNs (EdTech Heroes, Indiana Connected Educators, and Indiana Council of Teachers of Mathematics) that always challenge my thoughts, beliefs, and educational theories. Without being challenged I feel I would be stuck in my ways and never try anything new. Most of my communication with my professional learning networks occurs through Twitter. My wife actually makes fun of me because I do so much reading, retweeting, and collaboration through Twitter. But it is so easy to communicate with others from around the state, not to mention the world!

4. Innovative Technology Tools
Innovation springs from creation. If you don't give students and teachers the proper tools, it may be difficult for them to be very creative. Which in turn, makes it difficult to be innovative. I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with and to bring many innovative technology tools to my current school corporation. I am very thankful to work under some administrators that are forward thinking and believe that we need to get these tools in the hands of our students. My favorite innovative technology tools are drones, 3D printing, Google Cardboards, and 360 degree cameras. Just a few years ago, none of these items were invented, let alone were they present in a school environment. What kinds of tools do you have in your school that allows your students to be creative and innovative?

5. Google Suite for Education
Google has revolutionized education with their Google Suite for Education. G Suite is not just for producing a paper or creating a presentation. Its tools allow for collaboration, sharing, and efficiency. There are so many apps, extensions, and add-ons that work with each of the individual Google apps to make life so...much...easier... I just love most things that Google features within its G Suite for Education! Of course there are those naysayers out there that say Google will never make it in education. Well, I think the same thing was probably said about cell phones, cars, and the light bulb. Ha! Going forward I believe Google is really onto something with their G Suite for Education. Considering it costs thousands of dollars to stick with Microsoft, there have been many public education school corporations that are turning to Google.

So there they are--my 5 favorite edtech items that I am thankful for in my life. I am sure there are many that I could have also posted about, but these are the ones that make my professional life the most exciting and productive. Feel free to leave some comments below with what you are thankful for in your edtech world.

Google's #BacktoSchool Awesome Updates!

Hello, all and welcome back to the Land of the Teacher!

Google Classroom has been and will be our learning management system at Delphi Community School Corporation for the foreseeable future. That is why it is so great that they just came out with some awesome #backtoschool updates! Check out this article on the newest updates. A few of these updates can have an immediate impact in a teacher's classroom tomorrow! Below are the updates I think you will be most excited about.

1. Classroom Summaries for Parents and Guardians
The most requested feature for Google Classroom has finally made its way to the teacher's classroom---the ability to keep parents and guardians informed of the "goings on" in their student's daily lives. Parents may choose to receive a Google Classroom summary for their children either on a daily basis or on a weekly basis. Here is a screen shot of what a parent email looks like when they need to accept your invitation.

It is up to the teacher to invite the parents. Therefore, it does require some initial set up time. However, if you someone adds a parent email invite before you do, then that email address will be there when you are ready to send an invite. So my tip would be to share the work load and divide up the parent emails so one person does not do it all themselves.

Here is a short video on how to set up parent/guardian invites.

2. Google Cast for Education

Google Cast for Education will allow students to mirror their laptops and Chromebooks to the teacher device. This will be great when a student wants to share something they found online or share their presentation without having to send it to the teacher in order to see it on the screen. Since most teachers now have SmartBoards, it is nice to be able to share and view student work. However, some times it is cumbersome to have a student email or turn something into Google Classroom and then the teacher must share it. Teachers need to download the Google Cast for Education Add-on through the Chrome Web Store. (Hint: Use the link I just shared.) Once it is downloaded, teachers may name their machine and fix their settings for each of their Google Classrooms.

If you have questions about set up or want to see a demonstration, download the teacher add-on and contact me for the demonstration.

3. NEW Google Expeditions
Last spring the Delphi Community Schools Education Foundation blessed us with a grant to purchase some nicer, newer, and more sturdy Google Cardboards. As I have already written about the power of being immersed in virtual reality with the Google Cardboards, I have not really spoken much about Google Expeditions. Well wait no longer! Google Expeditions allow the teacher to take control of the content the students view and how they can interact with the surroundings. There are over 200 different expeditions that a teacher can take their class through. These journeys are anywhere from Machu Picchu to underwater in a coral reef to the anatomy of the body. (For a list of them, click HERE.) The Expeditions app is already available through the Google Play Store, but it will coming VERY soon there will be an app for teachers to download from the Apple Store.

With all these new #BacktoSchool updates, I'm sure it is difficult to contain your excitement! Well DON'T! Jump in feet first and I'll help you swim.

Stay techie, my friends!

Unlocking Shakespeare with BreakoutEDU

This week's blog post will actually feature Mrs. Amy Tonsoni and her experience with "Unlocking Shakespeare" with the BreakoutEDU boxes in her English 12 classes.  Enjoy the read and don't hesitate to try something new, just like Mrs. Tonsoni recommends below!

I was excited and nervous about having the seniors participate in a BreakoutEDU game.  I struggle with the unknown.  I struggle when I don't feel totally in control.  Often, using technology and trying new things makes me feel out of control.  This year, I saw something on Twitter that spoke to me and gave me strength.  I wish I remembered it verbatim because it was succinctly and eloquently stated, but the gist of it was...we teachers do not have to be tech experts. We just need to provide opportunities to our students and they will figure it out.  You may ask: What if they don't figure it out?  That has been a scary experience, too.  I have had to learn to say, "I don't know. Keep trying or ask a classmate." Think about how exciting that is.  I am out of the equation.  Students either have to have the grit to figure it out themselves, or another student is given the opportunity to be the teacher. THAT is a GOOD thing.

  

So - back to the BreakoutEDU experience.  It was fun!  I did not take the time to write a puzzle of my own.  I simply went online and found one that fit.  Shakespeare's birthday was coming up and another English teacher had developed a puzzle titled Unlocking Shakespeare.  Mr. Kline helped me get the boxes, locks, and clues set up.  We met a couple of days before to talk through the puzzle and ease my mind.  We scheduled a day that he could be in my room helping for this first attempt. It worked SO WELL.  Basically, I got them started and then just stood back and watched great things happen.  I watched my students COLLABORATE. I watched them THINK. I listened and was amazed at where their minds led them. I watched them having FUN. I watched them being ENGAGED while learning about Shakespeare - and remember, these were seniors and it was late April!  I am so glad that I took a leap of faith and tried BreakoutEDU.  I will definitely be doing it again.

Breaking out with #BreakoutEDU

Trying something new can be very intimidating for some people, including teachers.  This past Wednesday I put our middle school and high school teachers through something new--BreakoutEDU.  Of course at the beginning there was some major skepticism of what to do, how to start, where to go, and what will be the end result.  I mean, these are teachers.  We plan, plan, and plan some more.  We almost always know what the end result will be for an activity we try in class.  But...the teachers were no longer the leaders of the whole group.  They became the students!

Every now and again it is important for teachers to do a role reversal and feel what it is like to be a student.  So as I walked around and observed, I paid special attention to "my students" actions and reactions, in terms of being a student.  These observations were tremendous.  Here are some items of note that I observed.

1. Learning can be active.  This is important for me as a leader of professional development.  There have been many times over the past couple of years where I have done a presentation, but it was mainly a "stand and deliver" type of presentation.  As I walked around, most people were engaged and actively participating in the different activities.  Does this happen every day in your classroom?  How about every week?  Each month?  How often do you do an activity that engages 95% of your class?  (I know I did not do that enough when I was in my classroom.  And I also know that not every day can have these types of engaging activities.)

 

2. There are leaders in every group, and...some...others...  In #1, I spoke about 95% engagement.  Well, it is because I just ran an activity that did not have completely 100% participation.  So, it was pretty awesome to watch the staff try something new and different and it was interesting to see who the leaders turned out to be in each of the four groups.  However, just like many activities that happen in class, there were some "others".  The loaners.  The unengaged.  Did you notice it?  If so, did you just let your peers work on something else?  Did you let them wander around the table aimlessly?  Or did you go out of your comfort zone and try to include your teammates that were doing something else?  Did you call them by name and ask them to help with a clue?  Does this ever happen in your class?  How, do you engage those that do not participate in a group activity?  Do you just let them wander around your room, looking for guidance?  Or do you give them guidance...

    

3. Different can be exciting!  Does this need much explaining?  Ha!  Some times you need to shake things up in the classroom.  It is easy to get stuck in the same routine day in and day out.  However, it is always a breath of fresh air to the students, as well as the teachers, to try out something different and new.  When was the last time you broke up the "routine" of your daily agenda?  How do you think students would respond to a shake up in your class?  When was the last time you "tried something new"?

4. Gamification encourages perseverance.  One of the best ways to get students to engaged in class is to add some forms of "gaming" to the curriculum.  As a participant of a game, you have an objective to complete, some times with the help of teammates.  When you participate in a game, you often continue to work towards the goal regardless of any obstacles that may be in front of you.  As I walked around to the different groups, I saw numerous group members questioning, collaborating, experimenting, and trying to think of ways to solve clues.  Very, very few groups had individuals that were just sitting and waiting for something "magic" to happen.  They were persistent and continued to work towards the common goal.  How do you model perseverance in your classroom?  Do your students give up right away when things do not go as planned or when they get the wrong answer?  How do you recognize them for continuing to work hard to complete their goals?

   

5. Learning comes in different forms.  All humans learn differently.  The BreakoutEDU "Time Warp" game entailed many different activities for teams to solve their clues.  There were tangible items to discover, QR codes to read, puzzles to solve, and research to be done.  In your groups you may have noticed your different team members that had different abilities to solve the various clues.  Did everyone in your group know how to use a QR code reader?  Was there anyone in your group that knew the hieroglyphics right off the top of their head?  Did anyone guess the lock codes right away?  I doubt it.  Which means that there wasn't anyone with previous knowledge of the topics.  So how did you notice learning taking place in your groups?  Did you get upset with anyone in your group because they didn't have prior knowledge of the topic?  Yet, in our classes, don't we expect everyone to know how to do something right away, or even have some prior knowledge?  Keep in mind how it felt when you didn't know something.  It is always important to find different ways to access your students knowledge.  They all have some knowledge.  We just need to find out the best way to help them show it.

   

Finally, I hope you enjoyed the BreakoutEDU game!  It is fun to participate, but it is equally as satisfying facilitating to others.  When you facilitate your first game, make sure you observe the students, their engagement, the leaders, the loaners, the "gamers", the researchers, and ultimately, the learners.

So, when are you ready to do your own #BreakoutEDU game in your class?

Google Cardboards in the Foreign Language Classroom

I have written before about using Google Cardboard in the Social Studies classroom.  But I have been waiting... patiently...with introducing them in the Foreign Language classes.  Last Thursday, Mrs. Tyner gave me this chance!

Mrs. Tyner has taught French, and lately English, for many wonderful years at Delphi.  This year she wanted a fun activity for her classes right before a long break.  Enter Google Cardboard!  Since I have written about how to use Google Cardboard before, I will spare the details.  Instead, I will share many fun photos from Madame Tyner's French classes.

In preparation for the day's activities, Mrs. Tyner had students download Google Street View to their devices.  Those that did not have a smartphone were able to use Mrs. Tyner's or a friend's phone.

The "Oohs!" and "Ahhs!" are always my favorite part!  There were plenty of those this day.  Mrs. Tyner posted a list of places in France that her students needed to visit.  Many of these places were areas that Mrs. Tyner had the privilege of seeing in person.  It was really cool to see her reactions to these places.  Her knowledge of France is such an asset to her students.

Here Mrs. Tyner points to the stain windows in Notre Dame.  She quickly gave a chuckle as she remembered the students were not necessarily seeing the same thing as her.  The biggest reason this was such a cool moment is because of the realism of the virtual reality experience.  If you have not tried Google Cardboard yet, I recommend that you find me soon so you can give it a try.  You may just want to try it in your own classroom!

Badges for Professional Development

This semester I will embark upon the "Badging Journey".  It is something I have thought some time upon but I was not sure how to implement it.  I have decided there are 2 main goals that will come from this journey.

1.  Teachers will be recognized for using technology in the classroom for more than just the basic uses.  Well, what does that mean?  It means that you have used technology for more than technology's sake.  For example, having students type a paper in Google Docs would not necessarily deserve a badge.  But, having students type a paper on Google Docs, share it with a partner so they can peer edit it, accept the paper back and make the necessary changes, and then upload it to Google Classroom or a blog, that is a higher order of using Google Docs.  And it is well worth a badge.  When using technology in the classroom, we should always refer to the SAMR Model (Substitution-Augmentation-Modification-Redefinition) before deciding how to use it.  Below is the SAMR Model that was shared on Kathy Schrock's webpage.  It is similar to Bloom's Taxonomy Triangle if you have ever seen that.

So if you just have your students type a paper on Google Docs, print it off, and then hand it in, you would be at the Substitution level.  Your ultimate goal would be to get to the Redefinition level.  However, not every lesson or level of technology usage will be that high.  And that is OK!  Below is a chart I LOVE because it gives great examples of how to move your lesson up the SAMR ladder.  In which column do most of your lessons fall?

2.  The second goal of badging will be to give other teachers a view of what their peers are doing in their classrooms.  This gives educators a chance to seek out help from other experts within their own hallway or school.  Teachers love teaching!  Especially if it is to an eager learner such as a colleague.

Our school is full of innovative teachers!  I feel it is time to step up our collaboration and share ideas.  Will badging help us do that?  I guess we will wait and see...

5 New Year's Resolutions for your 2016 Classroom

Happy New Year!!  I hope your 2015 finished on a high note.  It is easy to look back and find the negative items from your last year, but hopefully you don't have to look too hard for the great things that occurred in 2015 as well.

Since this is my first post of 2016, I figured I better suggest a few New Year's Resolutions for you to try in your classroom this year.  Each of these "resolutions" are methods, websites, and suggestions for you to make your class more interactive and exciting for your students AND you.  You do not have to try them all, but just try getting out of your comfort zone and see what your students think.

Have a fantastic second semester!

1.  Edulastic - This is a fairly new website that is an excellent resource for creating questions and activities similar to those on the ISTEP+.  Edulastic has the usual multiple choice, true-false, and short answer questions, but they have also made it so you can create drag-and-drop questions, multiple answer questions, and ordering questions.  You can create your own classes and follow their progress as they move through an assessment.  The data you can get back from these types of activities are priceless!

2.  Google Forms, Drawings, or Maps - Google has created a fantastic suite of useful services through its Google Apps for Education.  Most teachers have used Docs, Sheets, and Slides, but not everyone has really dived into Google's other creative options--Forms, Drawings, and Maps.  Forms are very useful for surveys or data collection.  You can also use them for assessments along with the add-on Flubaroo.  Those can make your grading much easier and shorter!  Drawings has so many different uses.  Check out this article from MakeUseOf that gives you "8 Creative Uses of Google Drawings You Shouldn't Ignore".  If you want to see the creative juices of your students, let them loose with Drawings!  Google My Maps is an exceptional way to have students learn more about specific places.  They can also work on Maps to learn more about distances between places and create and share their maps.  Students can also work on the same maps at the same time, edit them, and then share them with you!  Check out this website for more ways to learn how to use them in your classroom.

3.  Google Add-ons, Apps, and Extensions - Google has given everyone the Chrome Web Store for us to peruse.  Through the Web Store you can find Apps and Extensions that are useful for your every day life.  I always like to look through the store to see if there is anything new and exciting.  And just the other day, I found "Boomerang for Gmail".  Check out it's features.  I trust you will find some handy.  This is just one of the gems that you can uncover if you search through the Chrome Web Store.
As much fun as the Chrome Web Store is, you also need to remember there are some "Add-ons" within each of the different Google suite applications.  Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms all have specific add-ons you can find within each application.  I already talked about Flubaroo for Sheets, but there are also some other great ones such as EasyBib, gMath, and Kaizena.  Check these out and make your life easier!

4.  Flipping your Classroom - Before taking my current position, I taught high school math for 13 years.  One of the best classroom decisions I ever made was to "flip" my classroom.  Basically, what I did was create video examples of math problems, upload them to YouTube, and then posted them for the students to view...at home.  In class time was reserved for practice problems, quizzes, engaging activities, and explorations.  WOW!  What a difference!  I was more tired using this method, but it was highly effective for my students.  They loved the time I was able to devote to answering their questions.  Too many times in math, students take notes, get a little time to do practice problems, and then are expected to go home and do all their homework.  Well, what happens when they get stuck?  Do they keep moving on?  Or do some of them just quit?  I loved this format and would highly recommend you try flipping a chapter or a section.  See how your students respond to the freedom you give them in the classroom.  Once you try it a couple of times, it makes eLearning days waaaaay better and easier for both you and the students.  If you have some interest in this, let me know.  I would be happy to help you get set up.

5.  New and Innovative 21st Century Technologies - Drones, 3D printing, Google Cardboard, 360 degree videos, and Spheros...just to name a few.  These are items that are at your disposal and can make a rather boring lesson into an engaging and exciting one for your students and for you.  If you want to add some excitement into your classroom, then engage the students.  If you tried the "Hour of Code", then you saw the engagement levels increase in most of your students.  They were doing something meaningful and engaging.  Even if you want to use any of these tools as a "hook", it is a great way to get the kids ready for the 21st Century jobs that await them.  We need to prepare the students for their adult life, not ours.  Just think how different your adult life is compared to your parents.  Remarkable, isn't it?!  Below is a short video clip from a drone flight Mrs. Kinzie's class took a couple weeks ago.  Have you ever seen Delphi from 150 feet in the air?  Think this might engage your classroom?

Well, I hope these ideas give you some ideas and a little spark for this semester.  Just think, it is only 3 short days until we see the smiling faces of the reason we go to work every day!