BLC09 - A Reader's Digest for Those Unable to Attend (In Person, At Least)

Editor’s Note: This post is written by high school teacher Dana Lawit who serves as a contributor to this blog. For this post I asked Dana to look through my Tweets to learn, gather, and share what she and others could learn remotely from what I tweeted. Dana does a great job in this post of not only providing an overview of my experience through a Twitter lens, but she also demonstrates how Twitter can be used to enhance learning.

The Innovative Educator just returned from the Building Learning Communities conference on Innovation in 21st Century Schools in Boston. While she was tweeting, blogging, and broadcasting in real time throughout the event, I wanted to compile some of my favorite quotes and takeaways as a non-participant. Think of this post as a cliff notes, or cheat sheet -- a reader's digest inspired by InnovativeEdu's tweets from the event.

InnovativeEdu: Education was ranked the lowest (below coal mining even!) for use of technology. Learning to Change-Changing to Learn. BLC09 12:14 PM Jul 27th from web

Clearly, if schooling is to continue to prepare young people to engage as productive members of their community, schools need to do a much better job and infusing technology and digital literacy into their curricula.

InnovativeEdu: Reading Student as Contributor: The Digital Learning Farm http://tinyurl.com/digitalfarm at BLC09. MOET12:16 PM Jul 27th from web

Conference organizer Alan November provides a historical context for charging students with responsibility and creation, and offers suggestions as to what the looks like in a 21st century classroom.

InnovativeEdu: Watching the Learning to Change - Changing to Learn video http://bit.ly/1oRKfr at BLC09 MOET12:30 PM Jul 27th from web

Inspiring video produced by the Consortium for School Networking that frames the need for 21st century classrooms.

InnovativeEdu: Nice post for BLC09 folks and others who are ready to transition from lurking to contributing. Inspiration @ http://blogush.edublogs.org//9:21 AM Jul 28th from web

How do we as educators make the transition from reading, researching receiving to collaborating, creating, and contributing? It's a transition I recently made. This post captures many of the reservations one might have as she transitions from lurking to contributing, but ultimately calls upon all of us to comment and exchange ideas more.

InnovativeEdu: Alan November is @ BLC09 saying we shouldn't have tech action plans just like we shouldn't have pencil and paper action plans.12:24 PM Jul 28th from web

Technology in a classroom isn't innovation. Just as an arrangement of desks and chairs doesn't necessarily yield a classroom. Instead, the deliberate arrangement of chairs combined with human capital transforms spaces to experiences. The thoughtful application of technology combined with learning experiences yields innovation.

InnovativeEdu: Alan November says Ning is "THE" tool for building learning communities at BLC09. At the NYC DOE we were told ARIS Connect was. MOET2:01 PM Jul 28th from web

As I posted earlier, Ning is a powerful tool for teachers and students. Its applications are endless -- connecting students within a classroom, teachers within a school, educators across the globe.

InnovativeEdu: @ BLC09 Alan November says we should replace the word technology with information or instruction @PLCJP really loved this concept.

I too love this concept for two reasons: 1) it debunks technology as a fancy word denoting slick, humming machines and 2) folds that word into the work of teaching and learning as another tool.

InnovativeEdu: mathtrain.tv is a site that was set up to share student created tutorials shared at blc09. I think marc prensky would love this.10:30 AM Jul 29th from web

Mathtrain is great example of creating an authentic audience for student products. On this site, students produce videos that not only demonstrate their own understanding of a topic, but can be used as a resource for other students.

InnovativeEdu: Connecting to students online allows educators to build and develop relationships that would not otherwise be possible.2:14 PM Jul 29th from web

I couldn't agree with this more. From my recent experience using a Ning Network with an English class in summer school, I found students reaching out (by sending me Ning messages) that had never engaged in a classroom before. For many, social networks carry with them a different set of social expectations. This is a powerful change of pace for many students and teachers alike bored and unsatisfied by the traditional conventions of schools.

InnovativeEdu: New York City School Leaders just created a learning network for transforming ed @ blc09. Come join us at http://ted21c.ning.com. Ted21c

Join the conversation, join the Transforming Education in the 21st Century Ning and continue the conversation.

InnovativeEdu: Blc09 concept: When you learn something, don't keep it inside. Do something with it. Publish it! Blog it! Tweet it! Discussion Forum it!9:56 AM Jul 31st from txt

As usual, we challenge ourselves and each other to continue sharing and discussing our experiences and insight about innovation in education.

Leave a comment, start a blog, join a Ning network. One of the most powerful and innovative ideas brought about by the introduction and widespread use of Web 2.0 technology is a lesson I'm continually learning and sharing with my students: you are important, and what you have to say and thing matters.

Look forward to hearing every one's thoughts.

Ideas for Leading Transformation in Schools from Alan November

While at the Building Learning Communities conference, Alan November sat with leaders from New York City schools to discuss ideas for leading transformation in their schools. Below are highlights from the conversation.

Kids Teaching Kids
->Switch the capacity of learning from the teacher to the student.
->Run a contest where kids create learning objects for other kids using screen casting.
-->Resources: PHPmotion, Techsmith, Camtasia
->Students can produce a video that welcomes other children to your school. This can go to all new students. Written, produced, directed by children in the school.
->Ask every teacher to submit the 10 most difficult concepts for students to learn in each content area.
->Challenge students to create ideas to teach the most difficult concepts.

Integrating Technology into the Curriculum
->Too many schools are doing cool things with technology but it is not aligned with the content area. Select 2-3 areas where technology will make a difference.
->Do not use technology just because you can do it. Use the tools (wikis, podcast, Twitter) but make sure they are strategic.
->Globalize the curriculum. We need to see the work of other kids around the world in every subject they teach. Find the award winning work from students around the world in each curriculum area.

Have a Family Plan->Create a Grandmother network.
->Get a grandparent to connect to through skype. Have grandmother read books to class.
->Create subject-area guides
-->Have teachers in each content area/department make cds/dvds for families that show the families how they can support their student in that particular subject.

Extend The Learning Time
->Provide opportunities for students to access their learning environment afterschool day, before school, Saturday,
->Think outside the box
->Open up the library beyond the school day and have an internet café.
->Can a librarian come in at 10 or 11 and work til 6 or 7 everyday, or a couple days a week?
->Can any staff members work Saturdays rather than Monday?

Roles of the leader
->Build Capacity
->Create Study Groups
->Develop great communication skills and express yourself using various channels: Twitter, learning networks, blogs, Skype
->Ensure technology is in alignment with strategic goals you set for your school
->The role of the leader is to build capacity (w/ specific tools, study group,)
-->Family capacity building group
-->Global connection group

Jobs of Student
Below are creative ways that students can make valuable contributions to their learning community. Click here for more details.
->Tutorial Designers: Students can document their learning by recording themselves solving problems based on material discussed in class. You can read how a middle school teacher named Eric Marcos is doing this here.
->Official Scribes: Use a collaborative tool like EtherPad or Google Docs to share responsibility to take perfect notes that can be captured, published, and used by an entire class. See how a teacher named Darren Kurpatwa is doing that with his calculus students here.
->Researchers: Many classrooms have a few computers sitting in the back that gets very little use. What if that computer became the official research station where one student each day was responsible for finding answers to all the questions in class – including the teacher’s? Once sites are found that give details about the questions being asked, you might consider adding it to your own search engine built using Google’s Custom Search Engine creator.
->Collaboration Coordinators: Using Skype (http://www.skype.com/), a collaboration team could be responsible for establishing and maintaining working relationships via the Internet with classrooms around the world. Find out more about how middle school teacher Andrea Trudeau did that here.
->Contributing to Society: Teach students about social justice and empathy using sites like Kiva a site that opens the doors of learning and gives students the opportunity to make a small but meaningful difference in the lives of others.
->Curriculum Reviewers: As the resources above come together, the curriculum review team jumps into action to create material that can be used for continuous review. This team combines visual and audio components into podcasts that can be posted online for individuals to download into their mp3 players. See how Bob Sprankle’s class did this here.

Safety Thoughts->Teachers should be wary of following students on public sites where the teacher subscribes to or receives instant updates of the students activities as we do not want teachers to become responsible for what students do 24/7.
->There are ways to friend a student without subscribing to their updates in some forums
->Family members should be following students, modeling responsible behavior, and should be aware and responsible for what students engage in online and offline.

Leading By Example - Transforming Education for the 21st Century

I’ve had the great fortune to spend a week at Alan November’s Building Learning Communities conference in Boston with a group of New York City school administrators who have made significant progress in becoming transformative leaders. I felt it was important during my week with these leaders for us not only to talk the talk, but to walk the walk and (even if things got messy) use a variety of the tools they were beginning to explore so that in addition to learning about theoretical implications of innovative practices, they would have hands on experience in discovering what it was like using these tools. During our time at the conference our group used a variety of technologies to enhance the way we were communicating and collaborating. To set the stage it was important to establish that our work together wasn’t around learning about things like wikis, blogs, twitter, and learning networks (which we did learn about) but rather about working in innovative ways that enhanced the work we were doing.

Sharing Knowledge with Google Docs

Prior to the conference we established a Google doc where we would each capture our Schedules to enable us to share our plans for the conference. This would serve a couple purposes. 1) It allowed us to be aware of the sessions one another was attending as it’s always great to be able to connect with colleagues who experienced the same learning as you, process, and extend the thinking. 2) It enabled us to capture the knowledge each of us set out to gain so we had an instant record of our group’s professional development experience.

Using a Wiki for Collecting, Capturing, and Accessing Important Materials

We also set up a wiki page for our conference experience. This provided a place for us to collect and access all important conference information such as the conference program, our daily reflection. It also provided a place where we could capture notes and materials shared at various presentations.

Tweeting to Follow Conference Activities and Share Reflections and Plans

School leaders set up Twitter accounts which they used to follow the goings on of the conference using the tag “BLC09” for the first two days. By day three most school leaders were also contributing tweets that included instant reflections of what they learned that they planned to bring back to their schools. This is now permanently captured and available for future reflecting and all leaders have access to see what their colleagues are thinking of doing allowing them to connect and collaborate. Here are some examples of their tweets using the tag 21cl.

· I plan to introduce digital writing portfolios through student blogs, expand use of wikis/blogs, expand our newspaper to be multi-media

· I will learn and share Google secrets by going to http://tinyurl.com/nwyeey

· Use twitter and google docs to promote a sense of community that can be extended outside of school

· Have staff tweet to share what is going on in school using a school tag

· Teachers can tweet homework assignments

· Have students create tutorials using Screencasting. (mathtrain.tv)

· As a leader I will model using tech tools in my practice

· Use Google Docs to construct grade level planning conference agendas and collaboratively write lesson plans

Using Google Graphs, Spreadsheets, and Twitter to Poll Participants

Our group was determining what our online brand would be. To do this, all members of our group were asked to contribute by tweeting nominations for the potential group name using the tag 21cl. I collected the nominated names and placed the 25 nominees in a Google Spreadsheet which we planned to use as a free polling tool. Our group members names were placed across the top of the sheet and each school leader used their five votes to nominate their top choices. As they did this we watched the graph rise and fall. The winner was Transforming Leaders for the 21^st Century.

During Conference Reflection Using Google Forms

School leaders completed a Conference Reflection Form a few times during the conference to capture what they learned and planned to bring back to their schools. These were captured as
conference reflections that were published enabling each participant to have the ability to access their own reflection any time as well as those of their colleagues.

Posting Conference Reflections Using a Blog

Each principal is going to write one reflection in response to the question, “What specific thing(s) will I do as a transformative leader in my school?” This will be posted on our newly created blog at http://ted21c.blogspot.com.

Connecting Across Schools and Across the Year with A Free Learning Network

Our group spent a session designing and creating the TED21C Learning Network which will be used across the year for schools to connect, communicate, and collaborate both within their schools and across schools. School leaders created groups and customized their home pages.

Capturing Memories Using Flickr

Photos of our experience were captured at Flickr using a new account we set up at ted21C (friend us). These photos are also posted on our learning network.

I’ve spent a memorable week working with school leaders who are thinking about ways they will bring transformation back to their schools. During that time we were Flickring, Blogging, Google Docing, Polling, Networking, Tweeting, Eating, Speaking and more. I can’t wait to see their plans for taking some of what they learned back to their schools as they continue down the road of transformation.

Kids Teach Kids with Mathcasting

At the Building Learning Communities Conference in Boston this week, I had the opportunity to meet an impressive teacher and two of his students who are engaged in exciting work involving kids who are psyched about math because they get to teach other kids how to get smarter. Eric Marcos is a middle school teacher who had created a video using Jing to help a struggling student understand a math concept. A few days later, another student happened to see the video and when he came across a difficult math concept he asked Mr. Marcos if he would make him a video too. Word got around and then something new happened. A student asked if she could make one of these videos about a math concept she was good at. Mr. Marcos said, "sure!." The next thing he knew he had his MATH students asking to stay late to make math videos. It was previously unheard of at this school that students would be staying late to do math.

The kids were excited to make their own math video and the concept took off. Mr. Marcos’s teaching began a transformation as he started using the student videos as a powerful tool in his classrooms for instruction and assessment. Next he had to determine a place to host the videos. He set up a site called http://www.mathtrain.tv. The site has the student video tutorials on various math concepts. They are just fantastic and popular. Soon there were kids around the globe watching these videos asking Mr. Marco’s students how to do math concepts and requesting more videos. Then students began discussing the math concepts they watched in the videos. Of course, not only is this a fantastic and motivational instructional tool, it is also a terrific assessment tool to determine if students have mastered a particular math concept. All videos have popularity rating, quality rating, and comments not only from educators, but also from their peers. BTW...this is all free.

Visit the site at http://www.mathtrain.tv and check out all the great existing content you can share with your students OR your students can create and contribute their own content.

Get Going with Google Apps in Your School

As a Google Certified Educator I am often asked how to get started using Google Apps. As many teachers know, Google Apps Education Edition is a free suite of hosted communication & collaboration applications designed for schools and universities. (See the top 10 reasons to switch your school to Google Apps.)

Though I know Google is a valuable tool, when faced with this question, I first ask, “Why Google Apps?” This is important to consider as the goals and objectives must come before the tool. Here is a recent response I received to that question:

We're looking for a school web site that is enhanced by the tools that Google seems to offer.As a school, we'd like to be able to communicate with students and parents about assignment deadlines and events, on a general school-wide level as well as for individual classes. We'd like email accounts for students and teachers, calendars, class web pages. We are also interested in using Google docs as a means of encouraging collaboration among students during group projects, lab activities, etc. I think there are a lot of applications to our school.

We are on paid site right now, but I have heard a lot of good things about Google Apps for Education. It seems more user-friendly/intuitive since Google is something the kids (and staff) are used to working with. Not to mention that it's free.

This school seems to have some great reasons for using Google Apps. Now that the stage is set, here is how I recommend getting started.

GET READY

Read the Quick Start Guide
The Education Edition is engineered to help schools organize the wealth of knowledge that lives inside schools. This guide will assist a full-scale deployment of Google Apps.

View Tutorials & Tips
View videos and tutorials on how you can use Google Apps at your school and in the classroom.

Sign Up for Free Email with Message Security in Google Apps Education Edition for K-12s
Keep your students safe with Google Message Security, offered free to current and new K12 Google Apps schools that sign up before July of 2010. Customizable inbound and outbound filtering based on content or senders - you make the rules.

Set Up Sites for Teachers
Check out the new Sites for Teachers page to see how teachers, students and administrators are using Google Sites to create their class sites, organize school trips, and run school projects.

Help Students Search Effectively
Educators often say that they could use some help to teach better web search skills in the classroom and make sure Google is used well and to its full potential. Google Certified Teachers have develop a set of nine modular and practical lessons to help educators do just that.

Review the Tools for your classroom
Become familiar the products that comprise Google tools for educators including staples like Blogger, SketchUp, Docs, Book Search , and iGoogle and their incredible newly featured products like the Custom Search Engine.

Take a look at Classroom Activities and Tips Posters
Be sure to check out some examples of teacher work in the new classroom activities section and check out the handy tips posters, which you can print out and hang in your classrooms, computer labs and libraries.

GET SET
Once you’ve done your homework, it’s time to start connecting with others doing the same work. These will be your best resources to becoming successful using Google Apps for Educators. Here is how you do this.

Get on the map
Find other Google Apps educators & students around the world. When you visit the Map you will find schools, along with their url, that are using Google. Figure out the key people at that school. Connect and visit. Here in New York you will find:

• Andrew Stillman, Columbia Secondary School, www.columbiasecondary.org
• Nancy Wong, The School at Columbia University, www.theschool.columbia.edu
• Jason Levy and Dan Ackerman, CIS 339, http://schools.nyc.gov/schoolportals/09/x339/default.htm
  

Become a Part of the Google Teacher Community
Here you will find the Google for Educators Discussion Group designed to keep you updated on Google's K-12 Education initiatives. The group has become the home of a vibrant community of educators. In this space educators start discussions with fellow teachers; share ideas about innovation in education; ask questions about where to find teaching resources; tell colleagues about curricula you've created that have worked really well and more. You will also find examples of classroom activities using Google products.

GO!
You are now ready to begin using Google Apps at your school. You will want to introduce this to your colleagues through a meeting or email. When doing this be sure to include your school goals and objects around why you are doing this. Have some simple ways they can get started now. Share some ways you plan to measure success.

You may want to set the stage with a video. Here are two I recommend.

Celebrate Your Success and Get on The Map
Once you launch this work in your school, add yourself to the Google Community Map publicly with your colleagues. Share your success by commenting here. Invite others to your school (physically or virtually) to see the great work you are doing. Share and publish your experience like this teacher did Spontaneous Collaboration... How cool is that?

An Innovation Roadmap: Criteria for Innovative Schools in the 21st Century

Today I will be joining a colleague from Teaching Matters at Alan November’s Building Learning Communities conference to speak with school leaders from around the world. We will be discussing the following questions.

• What is a 21^st Century School?
• Where does my school stand on the continuum of 21^st century success?
• Where do I want to be?
• How might I plan to get there?

At the conference we will be exploring this concept and looking at this question using a newly created tool called the Rubric for School Innovation. The Rubric provides a guide for thinking about different stages in the development of an innovative school. This tool offers a set of guiding questions and indicators of effectiveness and innovation, especially innovation made possible by technology.

You can find out where your school sits right now by visiting What Level is Your School? at The Innovative Principal area of the Teaching Matters website. Leaders can complete this with their staff, discuss the results, discuss where they want to be and then begin building an action plan for innovation to get there.

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Twitters can follow tweets during the conference using the tag 21CL