Social Media: The New Professional Development

During the infancy stages of Twitter no one would have ever guessed that it, along with other social media platforms, would become the New Professional Development.  It truly is the way to go for anyone to personalize his or her own learning. 

This professional development had two purposes: 1. To show teachers how social media can influence their professional lives and 2. To show teachers how it can influence their students learning. 

Side note: Before planning the session I wanted to model the use of new technology for teachers.  I decided to use Keynote presentation.  Not only did I model the use of this application for Macs, but I also, unintentionally, became an example of bombing a presentation just after I showed a spoof on presentations by growinleaders.com (see below).   If anything, I got there attention and they realized learning comes out of struggle, especially if you are using technology.

Back to the New Professional Development: I was able to walk teachers through a slideshare called, Ten Reasons Why Teachers UseTwitter by Mike Paul, Teacher, EdTech Consultant, and CEO of PikeMallTech.com.  I actually found this resource while participating in an #edchat.  It was an opportunity for me to show teachers how to use it to gain resources and information pertinent to their work.  Next, I shared some of my tweets with experts in the field as a way to show how Twitter can build and strengthen networks.  It gives any teacher the ability to engage in real discussions with real experts in any field from technology to social studies to assessment.  Twitter is give and take.  It allows you to take resources but you should also share what you do so you are helping others.   

 

Finally, if Twitter can enhance the work of a teacher then it can do the same for students.  Students can tap into experts as they research, create partnerships with organizations, meet other students with similar interests, and follow colleges that may be of interest to them.  These are just some of the few ways it can make their educational experience stronger. 

Overall, the audience of teachers seemed excited and scared.  Teachers were excited to see a new possibility with Twitter.  Teachers were scared because it was a world they were not too sure they were ready for but they knew it is something they need to do so they can be relevant.  Students need their teachers to be relevant, to be on the same page as them when it comes to technology use. 

A piece of good advice for beginners and gaining comfort with social media such as Twitter from our principal is to try following a field based on a hobby you enjoy.  Taste it first with something fun then take it to another level and begin personalizing your growth. 

Check out some of the learning on twitter by going to #cmscharged. 

Moonshot Thinking...

Before you begin reading this blog entry get inspired and learn about moon shot thinking.  Moon shot thinking is moving beyond what we already know to a place where we don’t know.  What does look like in education?  We are driving our teachers to think about how technology can be integrated in the classroom to enhance the learning experience.  If we can get teachers to think about the possible whether it is defined or undefined then we will have a culture where innovation can prosper. 

I wanted to connect moon shot thinking to the introduction of TPACK.  Teachers are proficient with their content knowledge and pedagogy.  Adding a technology into their everyday thinking and actions around the instructional cycle is going to be the new norm.  We need to invest time into making this transition.  Teachers were given a chart, which I modified, from Judi Harris and Mark Hofer’s research.  They had to reflect on a learning goal (content), identify the teacher/ student actions (pedagogy), and then moon shoot the possibilities of how technology can enhance the learning cycle (technologies).  They were driven to think about what they know and don’t know about technology.  What technologies exist that could be integrated in, what technologies do we know about but do not it available for use?  What would we want the technology to do if we could create it to enhance the learning?  This reflection process was a safe beginning for teachers to begin thinking about how their planning will change when students have devices in their hands all the time.

One outcome of this work was that it is okay to think of the undefined because that idea could be actually become a reality.  We need to share ideas because someone may know of a technology that could meet that need.  Ultimately, if we as adults can be moon shot thinkers then just imagine how they would impact our students. 

On a separate not we ended our professional development with Ten-Minute Tech Take Aways.  This model is our first step towards entering the world of unconferences.  Teachers could choose from about ten learning opportunities from using airdrop to getting a brief overview of iMovie.  Teachers were excited about this and wanted more so we will now offer an opportunity for teachers to attend multiple sessions in November prior to our first unconference in late winter.

Check out some of the learning on twitter by going to #cmscharged  

The Revolution has begun...

9/9/14 was the start of our school’s Revolution.  We decided to send off the teachers on a QUEST.  It was designed by our 1:1 technology fellow, Jessica Geremia, and acted as a guide for the first 1:1 professional development day.  The QUEST was focused, differentiated, collaborative, and provided some independency.  It gave time for teachers to play and step out of their comfort zones with support if needed.  Teachers could navigate through their new Apple MacBook and try out activities on the web that they may use in their classrooms. 

Activities varied from accessing Evernote to practice taking notes to creating a custom search engine using Google.  Also, we were fortunate enough to have Apple representation from the Boston offices to provide support for teachers on an as needed basis.  They were able to answer questions about the track pad to maneuvering through the system preferences on their laptops. 

This day also provided our 1:1 fellow and myself baseline data on what teachers need to learn about so we can plan more personalized PD in the future.  They filled out a Google form that promoted reflection.   Questions they responded to were, how can technology be personalized to you as a teacher that will enhance your instruction with students, what was the most valuable part of today's professional development, why, and tell us what you want to learn about next.  Teachers overwhelmingly gave us plenty of information about their levels of knowledge with the device and with using the web/ apps as products to enhance instruction. 

What’s next?  Our next PD will feature SAMR, which shapes teaching and learning with technology. This will provoke a discussion based on our focus question, what is 21^st century learning.  This discussion is important because we need to gain information on the various levels of understanding about 21^st century learning so we can then plan PD for teachers as we evolve and shift they way we think about teaching and learning when devices are placed in the hands of students.

It's a Revolution...

1:1 is the chance for us to “re-imagine learning” and not just “digitize” what we currently do.  This is an opportunity for us all to reinvent ourselves as teachers and learners.  In a way it is a revolution because we will not fall back into old teaching habits but step forward into the innovation that will change the educational experience for our students.   This modern day revolution will create the innovators of our future.  All stakeholders in this shift need to fully invest themselves.   We as administrators need to provide the education through professional development so they can be ready to stand on the front lines to ensure success for our students in what is our smallest world ever that we know it to be due to technology.  This will ensure that our students “envisage new possibilities, and to imagine and pretend the world is different (Alison Gopnik).” 

How are we doing this work?  Our school and the district created a model educator framework.   Model educators were assigned to content/ specialty areas.  The purpose of the model educator is to provide information regarding universal themes to you and to be that “go to” person when clarification is needed, assistance is needed, or to brainstorm new ideas that could surface based on how you evolve using technology as a tool to enhance instruction.   This work will educate teachers so they are equipped to carry out the revolution. 

It is an exciting time and I cannot wait to share progress as we change teaching and learning.  

Remember to be curious, be ambitious, be energetic, and be confident!

Sources:

Richard Culatta https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0uAuonMXrg

Creating Innovators by Tony Wagner, 2012

Tapping into Kids through Tech!

Instagram is an application that allows users to share pictures and videos with their followers.  Followers can write comments and let the person sharing know they like their photo or video.  Instagram is like a virtual coffee table magazine or book.  According to Wikipedia a coffee table book is “an oversized, usually a hard covered book whose place is for display on a table intended for use in an area in which one would entertain guests and from which it can act to inspire conversation.”  Instagram does just that but virtually. Now, I am not promoting Instagram but just wanted to share how we as school administrators use it as a tool to communicate with our students about our school. We want them to know that we value their work, their being, their efforts, and everything that makes them who they are as citizens of our school community.  Through this application we can acknowledge our students.  The following highlights the many ways we use Instagram to communicate with our students which in 6 months we have 375 followers, mostly students and some parents and teachers. 

Who likes snow day?  Students surely do.

Highlighting Student Work

Sharing Information

Acknowledging Accomplishments

There are many more wonderful ways to acknowledge all the bright spots in your school! Join in on the fun!