Blogging in Science

My "Guest Blogger" today is K. Phillips @Phillipskerri, a Phy Ed Teacher and Science teacher who really took an interest in the iPads.  The following is her story:

I think that the biggest challenge was not knowing if my ideas would work on the classroom scale.  I found that I could try something on my iPad or laptop and it would work and then in the bustle of the classroom with 30 kids trying to produce something there were inevitable problems.  Essentially, the iPads are not meant to be a shared device, and we had many problems with students logging onto apps and not being able to log off.  Scary, when they are then shared with another class the next block, and there is someone's blogger or twitter account ready to be posted from.  Yikes.

We also had problems once the work was completed, not being able to access that work from outside the iPad since the students were not able to email or tweet their work to me.  We all started blogs and were able to post work to our blogs from the iPads (thanks to the open wireless at our school) even as drafts that could be published later.  We also had trouble posting video - and thanks to some help from the students, were able to upload video to our own YouTube channel.  Pretty cool.

I think that the biggest learning experience in this process was to trust the students.  They were very patient and helpful in troubleshooting and problem solving.  Even though not all grade 12 students are digital natives, we were given the opportunity and freedom to create solutions together - collaborating with each other, trying things, failing at things until we found ways to make it work.  It is hard as the teacher not being completely "in charge" of what is happening - things not going to plan, changing on the fly.  It makes it very easy to quit a project or assignment that is not turning out the way that you think that it should or taking way longer than you think that it should to complete.  But I don't think the failures should be a reason to quit - if we think like scientists, we learn from all of our experiences, and it brings us closer to finding something that will work.  If I had tried to work all the bugs out before implementing the iPads in the classroom, I would still be waiting.  

Okay - some of the apps that I would recommend:

SHOW ME - it was very cool - I have been using video as assessment, having students explain concepts with manipulatives, white boards etc., and this app takes that to the next level.  You record voice and writing on a white board simultaneously (like that guy with the brown marker).  You need to create an account and these are posted directly online - either public or private with a web address as a link that some students then posted to their blogs.  It was especially good for students who aren't as comfortable in front of the camera - this is just voice and drawing/labelling etc.  Lots of possibilities.

http://johnrondina.files.wordpress.com

SKITCH - basically drawing/typing over a picture (either taken with iPad or downloaded).  Can also draw shapes and labels on white background (we did RNA/DNA with labels).  The jpeg is then saved to the camera roll of the iPad and we posted them to our blogs.

BLOGGER - a good app that allows students to sign in and out (and is free).  Simple to add posts or drafts and easy to post photos from the camera roll - students with iPhones can use the app and post pictures from labs and classroom activities with a short description really easily.  Students couldn't find a similar free app for android/blackberry.

I have lots to say about the use of blogging in Biology as well - just need to think about it a bit more first...

Ms. Phillips was my biggest blogger with students.  In another post we'll put up some of her student examplars.  

Working with Communicating with Students & Parents.

My Guest Blogger this time is S. Brine, a Social Studies Teacher at our school who loves trying anything new that engages the students.  The following is her research and learning today.

My goal: a website

During the Pro-D at the end of summer in 2011, I set my goal: to create a website that would meet the needs of students and parents.  Using Webnode as my template, I put together a site that allowed students and parents to view a weekly run-down of what to expect in Social Studies class, check homework assignments and due dates, view test dates (along with what to expect on the test), and have access to links that connected them to important documents (unit overviews, course outlines, expectations, etc.)  The website also provided numerous ways to contact me and strongly encouraged both students and parents to do so at any time. 

What really happened: a website and Twitter and a document reader

Upon completion of my website, I proudly wrote out the address for the students and asked them to use it often to keep themselves informed throughout the course.  One of my grade 10 students respectfully informed me that they didn’t really ‘use the Internet’ but rather relied on Twitter for information.  This particular class made it clear to me that if I truly wanted to be technologically savvy with my students, I would need to use what they used.  I created an account and tweeted reminders about homework.  More importantly, I sent out tweets that informed students the website was updated.  This helped remind them of my website and they began checking it on a regular basis.  So my goal became larger and I was able to both complete and manage the website this year and become familiar with Twitter and how it can be a wonderful tool to further connect me with students and my larger educational community.  I am now in the process of learning about my new document reader and how it can provide an opportunity to not only aid instruction, but record photos and video that can be uploaded to my website.     

What worked:

What worked for me was having the time to develop the website and the time to learn how to format it so it looked the way I wanted it to.  I enjoyed having my own time during Pro-D to put it all together and ask for help when needed.  The goal was mygoal and it was very satisfying to meet it.  With the updated wireless and the strong support from Nicole in particular, I was excited to experiment with and play with technology.  This school year, I have had more contact with parents than ever before as more are willing to contact me via e-mail and check the website to stay informed as to what their child is doing in my class.  It has made the whole teaching/learning experience much more open and transparent. 

What didn’t work:

I would have found more value in working with a small group of people who had similar goals to mine.  Having the time alone to concentrate on my goals was appreciated, but I would have enjoyed the collaboration with other staff members as well from time to time.  I also would have enjoyed a session where teachers would be able to show what they had accomplished or report out their experience with technology.


I agree, the teachers need to share and show their learning.  Next year, the Pro D days.

Innovative Grant Data - on communicating with staff, students, and Parents.

The following is a Prezi designed to show you some of the data gathered for our grant.  IT covers the growth of technology usage in our school as well as the growth of communication through blogging, twitter, etc.  Please take the time to see this presentation.

Collaborate, Communicate and Educate on Prezi

D. Pacheco is a teacher and counsellor at Sullivan Heights Secondary.  He teaches an Advance Placement class to Grade 12 students.  Here is his Guest Blog entry.

Over this past year we have introduced iclicker2 at Sullivan Heights. This technology is focused on student engagement and formative assessment. The student response to iclicker2 has been tremendous. We used them with two groups of students – AP Psychology and the Math/Science Coop. In total 57 students used the clickers. Results demonstrated that the vast majority of students (over 90%) found iclicker2:

• Improved class marks/concept understanding
• Enjoyed the variety of ways it can be used/formatively assess
• Made them feel more comfortable answering questions in class
• Liked the immediate feedback feature
• Would be useful in other classes as well

Blog owners comments:  The debate right now is do we buy another set of iclickers for the school?  Where can we use this?  How can we share this in our school?  There is a benefit as demonstrated above.  Do we pick which classrooms use these iclickers?  Can we have more then 2 classrooms test these out furthers? When we expand we need to collect more data but so far the feedback is positive.  Thank you.

Incorporating Technology in the Dance Class

C. Yahn is a dance teacher at Sullivan Heights.  Even here technology was looked at to improve the learning.  Yahn's write up is short and to the point, but there is way more then that to her learning, she's being modest.  Here is what this guest blogger believes her learning was this year due:

Worked:  

Recording routines and watching them as a class - students were able to see where they had already improved both individually and as a group and where they still need to go from there.

Didn't work: 

Posting routines on youtube - all students did not have their media release form signed so I was unable to do this.

What my fellow colleague did not tell you was all the work she put when doing a web site for her students to follow.  

See this link and you'll understand what I mean. She would put the music that the students would learn to dance to on her site so they could practise at home.  She highlighted the students' achievements on her site.  Due to Job Action and the difficulties of this year, many teachers took a break from the web sites and online courses, but the learning continued.  

She did help students to create videos for their routines and she was the lead in entering the Future Shop Grant (we didn't win but we sure worked hard).  The learning curve for all involved was huge, but we'll do better the next time.  This was a great year of learning!!!!

Gizmo Viewpoint from another teacher.

This post guest blogger is from the Science department, a teacher that team teaches, and likes trying some new stuff.  Mrs. N. Gill 

I wanted to incorporate more technology in the classroom and one of the ways was by using gizmos. Using Gizmos in class first semester with grade 10s worked well.  Lots of animations to visually represent what is happening with atoms to form molecules and a simulation of how mutations affect generations as they reproduce.   Some of the issues that I encountered were techinical difficulties - slow or nonfunctioning computers.

I wanted to use SMART board more in my Sc 10 class.  I was only able to do this once or twice limitations in time on working on this goal.  Again, this allowed a better visual as to what happens when plotting a velocity time graph and this is affected when you increase or decrease the velocity.  Limitations of what is available for science.

Blog owner's comment:

ALthough the school loves Smartboards, unfortunately our boards are mobile, which means setting the board every time you start it up.  This doesn't take much time, but a small tap of the board or a small shift will cause major problems.  So we looked into mounting them and we saw it would be over $1000.  When you compare this to getting a new computer for students to use which one do you choose?  You can use the board in one classroom, with 120 kids, or you can use another computer with the "Computers On Wheels" and reach all the students in school.  It's terrible how things come down to money sometimes.

The Law of Learning ;)

Guest Blogger - Ms. Law

Plugged into technology

Ms. Law teaches a number of subjects in our school.  Like many teachers in the district, she's vesitile, but also very flexible.  She's also the best teacher I've seen in any subject matter.  She's imaginative, willing to try new things, and works hard to make things innovative and fun in her classroom so students respond with enthusiasm to her lessons and to the learning.  To see more of what she's done in the classroom go to her school site at http://ms-lawswebsite.webnode.com/archive/news/ You can also follow her on twitter at @klaw6.  Below is her summary of her learning this year.

My goals sort of evolved over the course of the year and became multifaceted, all related to integrating tools and technology into my class in more of a long-term way instead of one-off activities. To be honest, I ran into a lot of roadblocks with regards to the room I was in and equiptment I had as my laptop frequently drops the wireless connection and the room set-up makes it difficult to hook up and display material. I also did not have a document reader or even a working overhead for the full year, so a lot of my work on my goals was theoretical and planned, tested and put aside for future use, not necessarily implemented this year.

What did work, however was using twiiter to connect to and with the school community and building a class website/blog that allowed for easier, smoother and more frequent dialoges with students and parents. Finding time to work on it has been challneging so it is an ongoing work in progress!

Learning in the LST room.

Guest Blogger:  Ms. O'rourke - LST

Ms. O'rourke is an excellent LST teacher who's caring and passion for helping her students comes out strong and loud.  She's tech savvy, using a number of programs on the computers to help support her students.  She also knows how to take care of the technology, and considering the expense of it, this is a good thing.  There was no hesitation in giving the LST department two iPads 2 to test out with students, we're hoping to get more in this department next year.

What worked and why?

Ipads worked very well. - In particular, we regularly use flashcard apps in conjunction with quizlet, and introduced them to students who had the technology already (on their ipods/iphones/ipads).  Most of our students are using flashcardlet regularly at home now.  While these work well for all, this works particularly well for the disorganized student who loses paper.  This also works well for students with writing difficulties because they can download the quizlet flashcards and easily adapt them to fit their needs for studying.

Other Apps of note that are used regularly to support students, both at the school level and at home include Khan Academy (for direct instruction), and interaction language apps like Mindlinks which include language pronunciation, which is something you don't get from paper.

I moved my First Class website to a web based format, and it worked somewhat well.  The information was there for students to access

What did not work and why?

• My blog - I only contributed once, and I will probably not continue it since I have been introduced to sharepoint which lends itself better to my needs.  I will start using sharepoint soon which seems quite intuitive to me.
• I wish I had not bothered moving my First Class website to a web based format.  The first class website was still accessible this year, and sharepoint next year will suit my needs well.

As I'm sure the district is saying right now, welcome to Sharepoint.  

Learning Summary of an innovative teacher

Davis is new teacher at our school that fully embraces technology.  He has used the iPads, the COWS (computers on wheels), the library, working hard on engaging students in his Language classes with the use of technology.  He uses the technology for assessment (oral composition online), making an oral assignment fun instead of just memorization.  You can see much of his work online on his wiki at http://mrdavisfrenchclass.wikispaces.com/ and you can see his summary and assessment of what he's learned this year at Sullivan Heights.  Even better, follow him on Twitter.

 What Worked:

Ipads: fotobabble App.

• Easy to create an account and use
• Take a picture and record voice over picture
•  Can sign in on the fotobabble website to copy and paste the link of the conversation and upload it to a wiki
•  Some issues with uploading the conversation on the app. Have to test it at the start of class and if it doesn’t work, sign out and sign back in and it should work

What didn’t Work:

Ipads: garage band

• Couldn’t save the files anywhere besides on the app
• Couldn’t transfer the conversation file to an email, wiki or itunes

Ipads: email

• Couldn’t sync any student emails to any projects
•  Only capable of storing one email address
• Overall I think the ipads and the fotobabble app is better than using a PC for recording conversations. Students are able to receive such quick feedback while playing back their conversations. They can also get the app for their iphones, ipods or itouches which gives them access to the tech on their own.

Overall Mr. Davis' innovative methods of differentiation with students, engagement of activities, and just plain putting the fun back into learning a language has the students clamouring to learn more.  Excellent work Mr. Davis.

An English Summary of Learning

My guest blogger is a teacher who is in the basement of our school (yes I know that does sound bad but she's OK, the chains don't hurt her;)  When I talked to Mandy she told me she did not have a lot of positive things to say but I said good, lets tell the truth, and be honest.  So here it is.  I'm proud of how she keeps on trying technology.

My experience with technology has not been so great. My first experience with technology included video taping students acting out their character skits. The camera battery died. Students then suggested I use my Iphone to record these skits. That part worked out well. Initially I was quite disappointed because I really wanted to video tape my students and they were looking forward to watching themselves. 

I have used the document reader several times. However, setting it up can be time consuming because I have to move the desks in order to connect my laptop (cords not long enough and not enough space on the trolly that the document reader sits on). I am hesitant to bring the Ipads downstairs to the basement for two major reasons. First reason being that it is too time consuming and a hassle bringing them down. I have to go through 2 floors with separate elevators. Secondly, the wifi connection is very weak down here. So I would hate to go through the hassle of getting the ipads down here and then the internet not working. Students in the past have brought their own laptops or have tried to use their ipods; and have constantly complained about the wifi connection. Myself I have my laptop plugged into the direct internet connection. I am also making good use of Facebook to update students on homework, assignments or announcements I may have. Students have been responding well to this idea. I am finding that students are responding well. They are using this venue as a place to ask questions--and if I am unable to answer questions, students are answering questions for each other. Students are able to use Facebook to engage in discussion and collaborate with each other on certain projects/assignments :)

Learning from the Home Economics Department.

Guest Blogger - S. Blackwell - a wonderful teacher who believes in working with students on their individual levels, being there always for kids, and a truly caring person.  Thank you Ms. Blackwell for participating in this learning experience.  This is her department's learning for the year.


Goals this year: 

1. to use LCD player to show powerpoints and foods dvds in class
2. to use the document reader in Junior and senior home economics classes ( Foods 8 -12, Tourism 12, Sociology and Human Behaviour 12)
3. to video tape teachers with the document reader and video recorder and reflect on their practice
4. to develop more assignments using technology.

The limitations of the two Foods Rooms for technology equipment needs to be noted.
The physical space in both rooms -can not maintain the equipment's location, let alone the crazy cords that are all over for the VCR, document reader and plugging in the computer to a power source.   -  Unfortunately the position of dem table and document reader do not align for showing a demo.  In all overhead is still easier because

• the equipment cannot be not mounted
• set up time takes too long
• Document reader recordings lack personal interactions and connections, a well as spontaneity.
• Document reader does not allow for students to help with the demonstation.
• Because of space considerations,

Some members will continue without technology in the Textiles and smaller foods room because of difficulty with equipment and set up.  We need to mount this equipment, but we have been told that it is too expensive.

Many assignments have been developed and created using technology such as glogster, prezi, websites, the internet, face book, you tube, learn 360 and discovery schools at all levels of the Home Economics Department.


Goals for next year:

1. to develop lessons  to enrich the Home Economic curriculum using applicable food and health applications on the IPAD
2. to continue to use technology in the classroom

This is yours.....

This is your employee at the school district who thinks people may not be interested in her blog of learning (I'm so proud of you!!!) but the journey is important to record to see your growth and I have at that!  You are amazing!

This is  your staff member doing research on different strategies to better herself as a teacher and learning the most important lesson of all, technology is just a tool, it's us the teacher, that makes the different.  

This is your teacher teaching your child using all the tools that he can learn to build better communication between himself,  the students, and the parents. Your ideas in this area have changed our school tremendous.  Thanks to you for the changes in our school web site.  It's almost done!  check out the "news" section (blog) we will use for instant updates.

These are my colleagues.  These are some of the people I consider my friends.  They are just a few of the supporters and the demanders of learning in Sullivan Heights.  These are the people that I am proud of: their passion for learning, their drive to be better, their foresight to look towards the future of education for their students.  These are the people that drive the passion in our school, the passion of learning for their students and for themselves.  They enflame my passion as well to be a better teacher and a better facilitator of technology in our school

These are but a few examples of the results of our Pro D today.  But this link explains all the people in our school who are working hard on personal goals of improvements. We were to start with one goal, but it seems many of us have expanded to two or three or four or five goals now right @klaw6?   I'm proud to be part of Sullivan Heights Secondary School. 

I have never said "This is my school" because to me,  it is not the building that I want to claim.  These are my students, and these are my colleagues.  This is my network.  That is what I am proud to claim.  See this link to see our list of research blogs.

Thank you for reading my rant.

"First one through gets bloodied."

I have heard this expression a number of times at the Digital Conferences  and in our staff room with different colleagues in Surrey School District.  Although I agree in it's veracity I also know that the second person following that same path of research in a new area of study can be in a worst situation then the first person.  Being with a large group of researchers at our school investigating everything from electronic portfolio, twitter, and Web 2.0 tools to researching the effectiveness and uses of Facebook, Document readers, and free web tools, we have come across a number of hiccups in what we are trying to do.  We all know there are always bumps in the road of change, and being the first you usually come across unexpected problems when researching something new.  This I agree with. 

Consider the 2nd person that goes through the same path of research.  We have a number of people trying twitter for learning with their students, for conversing on different topics and reporting homework to both students and parents.  Although one person introduced the use of twitter to the school there can be more then one person who's has gotten bloodied travelling down this same path in their research.

by Questa Durron

Think of a window.  The first one through this window of research breaks the glass, and although sometimes they get cut, usually the glass gets pushed out of the way, falling forward and away from the researcher.  This person may get cut, but usually continues to break the path.  Now consider the second person through that same window.   You can see all the jagged edges that they now need to avoid.  

The second person down this path of research is scrutinized more diligently then the first, for failure instead of success because of the first incident of blood being let.  This 2nd person needs to avoid what possible mistakes or bumps were encounter previously, but now there are more shards of glass to avoid. Many people watching the 2nd person will assume the same mistakes will be made.  Some must work against a preconceived negative outlook of others, working uphill if the 1^st attempt went bad.

In many ways to continue on with a path set by someone else is problematic because the 2^nd person knows what problems they will encountered, what mistakes will materialize and knowing these problems does not necessarily make the voyage easier.  More then this, they have to overcome additional obstacles the first person did not have.  Notice the edges of glass that were left behind, or the barriers that were put up to close up that broken window.

We are all the same in our school, all looking at doing an better job by changing the way we do things in our classrooms, to make learning more effective and efficient for our students.  We all care about the students and we want to do the best we can.  The first one that tries something new is important but it is just as important that second person, and sometimes even harder for that person to continue on.  

As Winston Churchill once said "To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often".  We're trying to be perfect, but the definition of perfection changes in this changing world.  So we must remember as well what Nelson Mandela once said "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world".  We're working at changing a child's world, one child at a time if necessary.

Reflection on Changed Teaching Practices

New Years Eve is a time of New Year Resolutions, but for me, it is also a time for reflection of my life, both personal and professional.  Every teacher should take the time to reflect on their practice as an Educator.  How can we, as a professional, improve our ability to do our job to the maximum?  That's where the reflection comes in. 

I've asked myself a number of questions now, in a number of areas of my professional life:

• How are my students doing?
• What did a do new this year?
• How did it make me feel, both physically and mentally?
• What was good or bad about this experience? Or perhaps it was both.
• What sense can I make of what happened?  What did happen and why?
• What else should I have done besides what I did?  How could I have improved what happened?
• If it happened again, what would I do differently?

These questions should not be asked only once a year, but constantly when making changes to your professional development.  But I find the holidays is a great time to do this.

Dewey (1933) identifies 3 characteristics of  people who are good at reflecting on their actions:  open-mindedness, responsibility and wholeheartedness.  These people are willing to take chancesand to change.  They turn every event into a learning experience.  It's as simple as it sounds, you do only three things:  look at an event, understand it, and learn from it.  This will help you grow in all aspects of your life

Tomas S. Farrell asks questions of more depth for understanding of why we teach the way we teach:

• What do I do as a teacher?  ( a description of my practice)
• What does this mean to me?  ( a look at the theories behind my practice)
• How did I come to be this way?  (a look at the influences on my practice)
• How might I do this differently?  ( a look at my future actions).  

He states in the book "Reflective Practice in Action:  80 Reflection" that effective partitioners go a step beyond simply acknowledging successes and failures, they strive to figure out why it worked or not, and how to change the way it went.    You need to constantly reflect on the new and old theories, values and believes of teaching, what learning means to you and what learning means to your students, tries new experiences and theories, examines what's happened, talk to others about it,  and see what can be changes and what cannot.  The conversation with colleagues is what will help you to see other views and other opinions, so you can see all aspects of your own learning experience of the event you just experienced.

So in all of this, where am I?  How well am I doing this term?  I have done a huge amount of recollective reflecting ( making sense of what happened in the hopes to change what I hope I can try again and get different results).  I will try again the Facebook assessment/collective Portfolios with my Grade 11/12 students.  But I need to explain in more detail to the students how to self-assess their own work.  I need to teach them self-reflective thinking, to explain that by reviewing their failures, they can show me learning, that every learning experience does not need to be positive.  

I will continue to do differentiation instruction in my Grade 11/12 Information classes.  I have created a number of online courses of learning in Photoshop, Illustrator, Advance Photoshop and some work in JavaScripting Programming.  The HTML online site has worked well after three years of editing, and I understand that the others will take some time to change as well.  

The reflection portfolios in my Grade 8 Information Technology class was not as successful as the Grade 11/12 one, feedback was not well done.  I need to connect their work in a better setup, perhaps using blogs like this one, and having a listing of the blogs all together will help me to moderate/control my time in a more effective manner, to respond in a quicker manner to work posted online.  Something to consider in more depth.

I have done active reflection ( immediate decision making during class as events unfold)  throughout these changes in my teaching practices, asking students to tag their photos so I can give immediate feedback worked extremely well.  Having students make photo book on Facebook to have their area of study organized worked well.  For those people doing movie editing, I advice getting a YouTube channel set up right away, so you can embed the videos right into Facebook (this worked extremely well).

In all honesty, the Grade 11/12 students were extremely happy with the differentiation practice - I on the other hand was extremely tired.  In the end students were helping each other.  This practise of asking other people before you ask the teacher (I'm the fifth on the list) worked better in the lower grades then the higher ones.  The Grade 11/12 students were not as receptive to a change in teaching practices as were the lower grades but in the end all were happy.

So the most important question of reflection - will I continue to explore these areas of interest or change to something new.  I'm not done yet, I like the changes in the student's learning - them taking ownership of what they want to learn. The level of motivation has tripled for many of them.  I just need to learn to manage my time more effectively for critiquing their work online.

There's my reflection so far.  Thanks for listening.

Sharing in the Educational Playground.

It's funny how when someone says something in passing it makes you think and wonder "What were you thinking when you said that?!!"

I told some friends about Sullivan Heights Paper, a summary of the blogs of the research that we're doing for the Tech Grant we received in September. They in turn were surprised at how much we don't mind sharing what we've done so far, the lessons, the rubrics, and exemplars.  I explained that it wasn't so much the grant that got the staff at our school started, it was the idea of sharing with people what we were doing, explaining to others what has worked for us, and what has failed.  This sharing of the adventure of our travels to reach the goals we set in September enhances the enjoyment of this trip.  The "Passion of learning" is what drives us.

Life is too short.  We need to enjoy a few moments in time and think about what we have and how we're fortunate to have what we have.  We were one of the first schools to get the College Wifi (thank you to all that helped support our school in that decision), and we received financial support in implementing some changes in our instruction and assessment methods to change our school environment.  Some examples of what we implemented so far is the welcoming of student technology (cell phones, outside computers, etc) into the classroom instead of banning it, embraced the opportunity these tools give our students in learning as 21st Century learners.  We're hoping to help students to understand how to properly use social networking tools/sites with awareness.  We want students to explore web 2.0 tools to self-assess their learning and enhance their critically thinking skills.  But with this exploration comes the  responsibility and need for comprehension (both teachers and students) in the area of copyright, plagiarism and intellectual property.  We are rich in having the opportunity and ability to delve into various areas of inquiry that each of us are passionate about, growing in our knowledge and skills. 

So I ask the question back to my friend "Why not share?" Twitter has given me numerous occasions to learn from colleagues all over the world.  I have seen opening and closing speakers of a number of conferences that I did not have the opportunity to go to.  These people share with me, why not give back to them?  Why reinvent the wheel?  Two heads are better then one, someone can make what I share better, and then give back to me their opinion.  What better opportunity can you think of?!

Most of us entered the field of education because of the love of seeing a student's eyes glow when they finally understand what we have been trying to teach them.  The rush of pleasure a teacher feels when they say "Oh, I get it!".  That rush is not diminished when it's an adult who says this.  It's flattering when someone retweets you, why not feel the same when someone edits your idea to suit their class.  As in a retweet, mentioning the name of the person is the polite thing, and as professionals I hope we do the same with the rubrics, documents, or anything of a colleague that we wish to use. 

So why not enjoy the sharing.  To people who follow my site, please, feel free to use anything here or at my other sites (excellent Web 2.0 tools at this link).  Just say thanks  and email to say how it worked or how I can improve it.  

This morning I looked at the sunrise here in Vancouver (yes this picture), on a beautiful sunny crisp morning, and I thought to myself, I'm fortunate to be in a job that I enjoy, continuously challenging myself to be better in my field, having the means and opportunity to explore my interest and passion.  Why not share my good luck with others?  I hope this blog and my colleagues blogs help you in some way, shape or form.  Enjoy your day or week.  Enjoy your passion.

Start of a new Learning Path in your new school year

While I read about other teachers' new school year start I consider mine, and I realize, I don't want to talk about this.  As usual, it was stressful with new students, new courses, new rooms, new colleagues and a million of other new things.  This event did not inspire a passion for teaching; rather it exhausted me and continues to do so (the first two weeks are always stressful when you are in charge of computers and still teaching).  You need to learn about new students, understand where each student is at and where you and they want to be at the end of the semester, build relationships with the students,  learning their learning profiles, their strengths, weaknesses, etc.  You need to create a working relationship with new parents, get current contact information, get emails, tell them what you hope they will help you with and what you hope you can do for them. Most of this is done (or try to do) in only an hour and a bit each day, until the next group comes in and you start over again with 30 some new kids.  I can go on and on and I think I'll stop now!!

So what does inspire me to start this year with a strike on, parents, students and colleagues all upset?  My passion is the continuation of learning, both with the students and for the students.  During our professional development session, teachers were asked to create one goal for the year, only one so they could focus on this passion.  This idea came forward from some readings through Twitter on self-directed learning and self-directed managing.  

So what is your goal?  Perhaps Chris Lehmann can help teachers start with their goal.  He recently wrote the following:

You have to be one school. You cannot want one thing for students and another for teachers…If we want classrooms to be active places, so must our faculty meetings be.   If we want to feel cared for by teachers, then we must care for teachers. If we want students to be able to engage in powerful inquiry, so must teachers.

You want your students to become 21^st Century Learners, then so must we.  So we too must set goals to make ourselves a better teacher.   

While thinking of your goal of your teaching year you need to consider where you will learn from, your sources, who may help you, is their mentoring available, and what sources of social support and accountability you have built into your learning plan.   Consider the following:

1.  Who has already learnt from this and what can you get from their learning.  There are a number of books already available from a number of sources.  Find them. 
2. Use the Social networks out there.   Tweet out to others, asking if someone else has been working in this area.  Consider where you tweet - Use hash tags of your district (#sd36) or open it up to all.  Someone is also passionate about the area you are interested in, and can help.  When doing something for the first time (learning something new), it's nice to have a friend along for the ride so both of you can bounce ideas off each other.  Most teachers are natural sharers at heart, and the media of social networking is a great place to share.
3. If you are continuing an area you've already started, this can still be your goal, to go further in this area and you can help mentor someone else just starting.  To teach someone a new skill only reinforces your skills more, and helps you see further into the area you are teaching, by seeing through new eyes.
4. Consider the evidence of your goal and how you will know you have reached this goal.  What will tell you that you have accomplished what you have set out to do?  Sometimes you never do, but make the goal attainable, or maybe smaller goals to reach your main goal.  Remember that when you teach students you break up the task to smaller steps, which are attainable for success.  Sometimes your goal will take more then one year, but that too is fine.  Go step by step.  As the old saying goes “Rome was not built in a day”.  Well I don’t believe the educational system will change in a day, but a number of people in a school changing the way they educate students will make a difference, even if it’s one child at time.  Always remember, you as a teacher make a difference to the world of a child.

This is a video of the Closing Keynotes speaker from Chris Lehmann from the ISTE 2011 Conference.  Take the few minutes to watch this video, to be moved, motivated, to be passionate, to change your way of thinking of education, and to set your goal to help our students, our kids.  The passion is there, the passion can grow, grow your mind, grow your passion, let your passion inspire the passion of learning in your students, and pass on the feeling...  This is my goal this year, to help others (both teachers and students) to be as passionate as I am about becoming a lifetime learner.  Help them to enjoy learning again.

Always remember that all of our goals should consider the following."The most important thing that we do is to teach the child in front of us  to become a fully realized person...  If you take nothing else, make sure you realize that these tools, these amazing things we have learned, all that we have done this week has done serves nothing else but to help us all become better people.   So therefore when people ask you what you teach do not say I teach Math, I teach English, I teach Second Grade, say simply I teach children.  That is your job, that is all we endeavor to do...  I want four things for our children.  I want them to grow up thoughtful (full of thought), wise, passionate and kind "

I want teachers to be the same, to model these characteristics in their goals.