Technology Conference Week: Marzano's 9 and Technology

This session was led by a district trainer.  She's very knowledgeable in regards to Marzano and his big ideas.  I've heard a bit about it and I was interested in more.  Here's what I learned:

All 9 of Marzano's ideas are significant and have an impact on learning. Some do have a larger impact than others.  Big ideas are listed in order, from greatest impact to lesser impact.

Identifying similarities and differences: Inspiration and Kidspiration are best tools, word doc tables, Venn Diagrams, Thinking Maps,www.inspiration.com/examples/inspiration (kidspiration)

Summarizing and note taking: Cornell Notes and various other types of notes, including outlining. Note taking generator: www.eleven21.com/notetaker/   It is ok to give kids notes/outlines and have them fill in extra information. Give them key terms and allow time/space to fill in extra info. Bottom is for a summary of information.  Could also create a template in word and type in it. (Good idea for some SS notebook pages next year)

Reinforcing effort and providing recognition: least understood strategy, not automatic, do rewards when they are least expected, be specific and spontaneous with praise. Find movies/clips about people who have overcome obstacles and shown perseverance. Help students make the connection between effort and achievement.  

Homework and practice: not much technology in a traditional sense, homework tracking charts (this is really not an issue in my class, as I rarely assign homework. All students have to do nightly is read, study math facts, and study vocabulary/spelling.)

Nonlinguistic representations: create Jeopardy games with images/actions instead of words,  simulations, collages

Cooperative learning: webquests allow for students to take on roles within a group

Setting objectives and providing feedback: rubrics and online assessments, rubrics help students understand exactly what is expected from them before starting an activity.  

Generating and testing hypotheses: most engaging for students, simulations and investigations, use TV shows like Mythbusters/CSI to point out types of reasoning, predicting, and drawing conclusions.

Cues, questions, and advanced organizers: www.big6.com, put up question and use a timer before allowing students to give responses

I'll be honest - I lost attention toward the end.  The presenter was a local lady, but she failed to address (or maybe didn't realize) that many school do not have students with technology access from home.  She spoke at length about putting things online so students can access them.  That is all well and good, I see the benefit. But what about kids who don't have access?  And our day is so tightly scheduled, that there isn't any time when I could let those kids get online.


All in all, I did get some good ideas.  I like the Cornell Notes generator, I will definitely be using that in SS next year.  I will also be finding out more about the Big 6 (we have to do 2 research projects in Writing and a content area each year.)  Much of the other stuff I already do - I just might need to refine my practice of it.


Do you use Marzano's ideas?  Have you incorporated technology?  Do you use Bloom's instead? I'm interested in all these things - they all have an impact on teaching and learning.

Technology Conference Week: Using Twitter to build a PLN

I feel really lucky to have attended this session.  I was one of 2 people there!  I had a chance to pick the brain of the presenter (Don Lourcey)- and I really benefited from that.  Here is the digest version (we spent an hour discussing Twitter and Diigo. I've narrowed in on Twitter for the sake of brevity.) Enjoy!

First - What is a PLN?  It is yet another acronym. This stands for a Professional Learning Network.  There are 3 C's that happen in a PLN.  They are: Communication, Collaboration, Connection.  Teachers need to be looking for like-minded colleagues - and they might not be in the same school building. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn are all places to start. I am on Twitter and Facebook and have considered starting a "team page" on Facebook for the next school year. We'll see.

Here is an image similar to one our presenter used - The Networked Teacher by Alec Couros. This one is from Flickr, click the image to go to Flickr. There are different versions of this image floating around - they all show how a teacher uses various Web 2.0 tools. Wonderful! I think I'm going to print this image (or one like it) and hang it near my desk next year. This will help me remember all the different ways I can stay connected.

The ISTE conference wrapped up last week. I sure wish I could have attended!  ISTE stands for International Society for Technology Education.  They developed the National Technology Standards for Teachers (ISTE Standards).  By becoming a networked teacher (by developing a PLN using Twitter and Diigo) you are developing these 3 standards:

-Model digital age work and learning

-Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility

-Engaging in professional growth and leadership

Building a PLN also lets us live the 21st Century skills we are trying to teach our students.  Those include things like global awareness, critical thinking, adaptability, collaboration, media fluency, effective speaking, problem solving, creativity, analytical skills, effective writing, curiosity, innovation, and synthesis.

Power of Twitter - I've only had a professional Twitter account for a few weeks (since the evening after this session actually!) But I've quickly realized how valuable it is.  It is what spurred me to re-task this website. I needed a place where I could record thoughts, reflections, and ideas revolving around my classroom.  Twitter has also helped me find some fantastic people to follow - check out who I follow and then who they follow.  Lots of great resources there!

@dlourcey

@web20classroom

@mbteach

@rmbyrne

Finally Twitter isn't just about making random Tweets. I'm still getting into the whole conversation end of it.  But if you follow hashtags (which is usually a word or acroynm with a # in front) you can find even more people to follow and share with.  Here are some hastags that were recommended to me:

#edchat - Education Chat

#edtech - Educational Technology chat

#elemchat - Elementary Ed chat

#daily5 - Daily 5 chat (a way of organizing reading groups/centers)

#teachertuesdays - Chat that takes place every Tuesday

 

For more on Twitter:

Cybrary Man's Educational Web Sites (How to take part in a chat on Twitter)

TweetDeck - manages multiple accounts and Facebook/Link'd In - a separate program that runs in the background. Lets you use Twitter without going to the main website.

Special thanks to Don Lourcey for not minding all my strange questions and comments during the session.  You can find out about him here, here, and here.

Technology Conference Week: Flip Camera Ideas

So at our district's tech conference a few weeks ago, I attended a session about having students create book trailers.  This was a fun idea and I might try it with my students.  However, it missed the mark for me just a little. I was hoping for ideas for using my Flip Camera. I got it last year through Donor's Choose.  So here is one idea I'm toying with:



Reading Rainbow style book reviews! And better yet, I found out that our librarian can upload the videos into our online card catalog program (Destiny.)  Then other kids can watch the clip to get an idea of what the book is about.  How is that for a relevant project?

Thankfully there are many clips on YouTube showing the reviews the kids did "back in the day." Did you realize that Reading Rainbow has been off the air for years? It is unfortunate, as I used to watch it with my 2nd graders each and every Friday afternoon before dismissal.

I'm also looking at doing something like this for next year:


My only issue is space. I don't have the room or the resources to dedicate to this. I could put the Flip Camera on a tripod in a corner of the room though. After sufficient training and teaching the kids how to script it out, I'm sure it could work. This is something I'd really like to have happen - but I won't be able to play with the idea until August when I can get back into my classroom.

What have you done with Flip Cameras? (Other than just video the kids?)

Summer Plans

So I have some grand plans for this summer. I'm feeling much more on-the-ball now than I did just 2 weeks ago.  This school year did a number on my brain!  Here's what I'd like to work on this summer.  I'll make this an ongoing list so I can add things and mark things off when they are accomplished (or swapped for something better!)

• Develop several good uses for the Flip Camera I got through Donor's Choose. I'm thinking first about a station where kids can sign up to record something they've scripted and practiced. Maybe along the lines of the Reading Rainbow book talks? Must research!
• Plan my read aloud books for the year. Find or develop lesson ideas that begin to incorporate the Common Core standards.
• Explore paperslide lectures as a mode of delivering info for Social Studies
• Investigate the idea of a flipped classroom - is this something I can make work in my setting? (elementary school, 50/50 access to computers/internet at home)
• Continue with my original plan from NCCAT - make Glogs of resources for my main content areas.  Additionally, consider making a Glog for each month to host on my website. (We have to do monthly updates to our classroom sites.  I'm looking for a simple way to manage this. Kids can't touch it and our wiki/blog sites don't count. The Glog would probably suffice and then I'd only have to change it once a month.)
• Spend time developing a PLN so I'm ready for August 25th! Must decide how public I want this to be locally - have had problems in the past so I'm thinking to keep this strictly online for now. We'll see.
• Consider writing a Bright Ideas Grant for Discovery Education's Science Tech Book. (Waiting to hear back from Discovery to see if this would even be possible.)

There they are. Some big ideas that I want to work on this summer. Each one will probably merit its own post - especially since I'm doing NaBloPoMo. I figured it was a good way to get into a habit of writing and reflecting daily.  And July is "free" for me - the whole month! What a miracle!

What are your plans for the summer? Anything special?

NCCAT - North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching

Now that I have a place, I can really get into details about my visit to NCCAT. Many NC teachers will have heard of this. Here is a description from their website (they explain it far better than I ever could!)

NCCAT’s mission is to keep high-quality teachers in the classroom, advancing teaching beyond that of a simple job to an art form and a profession. By renewing their love for teaching, and improving the quality and enthusiasm of the teachers themselves, NCCAT ultimately improves student engagement in learning and academic achievement.
NCCAT’s vision is to build and sustain great teaching in North Carolina as teachers explore their profession more deeply, examine and challenge their ideas, and engage their intellectual curiosity and creative thinking through stimulating scholarly subjects.
NCCAT helps to retain the most caring, highly qualified, and skilled teachers necessary to positively impact the quality of public education in North Carolina. Dedicated to enriching the professional lives of our state’s public school teachers, NCCAT provides support for the entire spectrum of their teaching career.

 To me, NCCAT was a dream. Everything about it was teacher-nirvana. We got to work on cool projects (more on that in a minute,) the food was wonderful, and the setting was amazing.  And don't forget being with a group of like-minded teachers - we were all there to learn about technology and ways we could use it in the classroom. Dream vacation for a teacher.  And they paid for my sub - bonus!  Now if they could have just made my week of lesson plans for me... *wink*

Anyway, we learned about so many tech tools - my mind was spinning by the end of the week.  So my colleague, Lois, and I decided to collaborate on a final project to compile some of those tools into one spot.  Here is what we created!

A Glog! I wanted to embed the Glog here, but with my current set-up, it got all wonky. So please, click the image to go see it in its full glory.  Included in the Glog are these Web 2.0 tools:

• WeeMee avatars
• Animoto music videos
• XtraNormal (Miss Betty will talk you through the whole glog - guided tour Web2.0 style! And by the way, you can get an "educator verified" account - they'll give you points to use to make videos!)
• Wordle
• Wiki/Blog provided by my school district (you can get the link on the Glog, not linking from here)
• YouTube video
• VoiceThread project done by our NCCAT group
• Prezi
• Creative Commons information

I am super proud of this Glog. It represents a turning point in my use and understanding of technology. I "get it" now and am excited to find ways to incorporate it into my teaching.  I may or may not get students involved - but at long last I'm on the right path!