Avoid Re-Inventing the Wheel

So many educators are wearing themselves out, thinking they have to come up with every idea and every resource on their own. It's a sign of the change in the times that teachers are beginning to realize that if it "takes a village to raise a child", we need to work together as a village! We need to collaborate. Why shouldn't we?! We are not limited to the resources of the teacher next door, at our school, or even in our District. Our students can access extended and long-distance family members for help. We should not be afraid to do the same. The problem is not finding available resources, it is vetting the resources to determine which ones are valuable.

How do we accomplish that? This is what I am doing. I look for the educators that are leading the way on this path. Some of the reliable resources that I have found are in the form of "blogs" and "Tweets" +Alice Keeler, whose Blog can be found at Teacher Tech, and whose Twitter handle is @alicekeeler, has already done a great deal of the footwork, presented it and written about it. She shares a lot of links and ideas on Twitter, so "follow" her. Another great resource is +Holly Clark, whose Blog can be found at Ed Tech Diva and goes by the Twitter handle @HollyEdTechDiva. I highly recommend taking a look at her post "New Year's Resolutions for the 2014 Classroom". 

Computer Using Educators (CUE), CUE-LosAngeles, +Edmodo and Google Apps for Education (often referred to as "GAFE") have irrevocably changed my view of what is possible to do as an educator. I find that my appetite for learning is insatiable. And, like my students, as I learn new things, I need to summarize my learning and commit it to writing. I have learned so much from the connections I have made on Edmodo, Google+, and Twitter. These resources provide me the Professional Learning Network (PLN) that I need to support my efforts in bringing the best educational experience possible to my students. 

The circle is complete when we are able to take what we are learning and give back to the "village". The same tools I have used to develop my skills, to this point, can be used to give back. My "village" is no longer limited by how far I can travel at any particular point in time - it is a "village" without borders. Thank you, neighbors!

Could You Repeat the Question?- TwitterChat

I absolutely have to put this down in a blog before I forget. Twitter chat - my first - #caedchat (the Teacher Twitter chat for the state of California)
- I felt like I was in Las Vegas, playing a whole row of slot machines at the same time. If you have never participated in a Twitter Chat, you must give it a try. Archives of previous #caedchat, (these take place every Sunday, 8 p.m. pst.) can be found here: https://sites.google.com/site/caedchat/home

The topic for this evening's chat:

 "Renew, Re-imagine, Recommit, and Reach Out"

Special guest moderators were @mdhero @SLOlifeKevin @NowaTechie and @Kairosedtech from Mexico. They did a great job and we had a lot of fun.

Questions were provided ahead of time via a Google Doc shared by 
David Theriault -  the co-moderator/founder of #CAedchat. Thank you, David. 

"CREATE a motto for this year BEFORE the chat with your own image- NOT one found online. Now post it.
If you could re-imagine a unit or lesson, what would you do?  How would you like to change it? What would you like to add?
Provide a quote/song/ short vid clip you could use w/ your ss or staff to inspire them to reflect on themselves as learners.
Do you have a lesson that you felt inspired by? That could inspire others? Post a link to the lesson."

Here is my response to the first question:

Pictures from our dive in Curacao, 2013

I now know why these are posted before the "twitter-chat"! Remember that comment about the slot machines? I installed "TweetDeck" by Twitter. I set up my columns so that I could separate out the tweets for #CAedchat. I thought that I was set. I was wrong. When the Twitter-chat began I couldn't believe how fast the Tweets rolled by. All the columns looked like they were spinning by and I found myself hoping that there would be three "Lucky 7"s lined up across my screen at the end. I will be better prepared next week, thanks to suggestions from Isaac Pineda (@Kairosedtech).

Sometimes it's even useful to have 2 columns with #caedchat one w/ live tweets and the other you're pausing

I can't wait until next Sunday to give that a try. Knowing the chat is saved for review at a later time, also helps.

PDs in PJs

What could be a better PD experience than participating in a Professional Development wearing comfy PJs and big fluffy slippers, and without having to comb my hair or leave the house? None that I know of. That was my experience today at +EdCampHOME 2.0. So many talented educators (over 300) gathered to share resources and ideas via Google Hangouts and livestream YouTube. 

Rather than ramble on and on about this incredible morning, I will include a link the excellent blog written by +Markette Pierce, along with kudos to the +edcampHome coordinators, copied from  +Ryan MacRaild. A big "thank you" also goes out to all of the session moderators who led us through "treasure hunts" extraordinaire! 

Link http://edcamphome.org/ Be sure to click on the 2 schedules to have access to recordings of all discussions - there are 47 recordings plus the "slam"!

+Karl Lindgren-Striecher

Creator & Organizer

@LS_Karl

Outdoor lover, sports fan, Sconnie native. I learn and teach w/ 9th and 10th graders, mostly about world history. #EdCampSFBay organizer, #CAedchatmoderator.

about.me

+Kelly Kermode

Organizer & Multimedia Maven

@coachk

Teacher, Learner, Creative. Using technology to create is a passion. Just want to get better all the time. Love to collaborate and share.

about.me

+David Theriault

Creator & Organizer

@davidtedu

Relentless Blogger of The Readiness is ALL

Founder and co-moderator of #CAedchat

English Literature teacher of eighteen years in the Huntington Beach Union High School District

+Shawn White

Organizer Website & Net Creation and Integration

@swpax

Special Education (English co-) Teacher. CAGS in Ed Leadership student. Webmaster, ed tech/social media geek/hacker, & lead tech coach at a 1:1 netbook high school. Maybe writer & poet, too?

musical computers

It appears to be true that the nComputing pci cards do NOT fit in slim desktop computers. The good news is that the company that sold our school this configuration is going to make it "right." Now it is just a matter of figuring out the computer rotation that will give us the number of stations we need, without the need to buy additional PCI cards. I may teach math, but I'm getting a headache thinking this through without a pencil in my hand. I think that the solution here will be to make this a math activity for my 7th and 8th graders. I will post next on how this assignment was received by the students. Let me know if you would like a copy of the lesson plan. Just the thought of doing this is cheering me up!

A minor roadblock

How to get five computer labs up and running for the after school intervention program. Our school has decided to use ALEKS for our Math Intervention program. To get the most out of the resource, students should spend at least a couple of days each week using the program in the computer lab. The problem is, we have 2 computer labs and 5 Intervention classes. We use Ncomputing x550 in the two labs that we have, and in the school library. I began the expansion of the computer setups in the library. We moved the tables around, disconnected the 11 computers already set up, and began to assemble the 11 new monitors, Ncomputing x550 cards, mice, keyboards and vga connections. Thank goodness we have a librarian with an eye for aesthetics  and a Principal willing to pitch in and help get the job done. I'm afraid that I would have given up before I even started without them. Thank you Marilyn and Ed.

Everything was going along perfectly - until we ran into a roadblock - the computer ordered to use with our pci cards was too narrow to hold the full size cards. This is important information that the company that sold us the equipment should have been aware of. They are going to make this right, so that's why this is a "minor" roadblock. With budget cuts to education so deep, this could have been a major setback for us. We are lucky - this time. I hope this post alerts others, interested in using virtual computer setups, of the need to make sure that the case is large enough to hold the cards. It will take about a week to get the new equipment. I guess this will give me some extra time to work on my training program for my student "techies" on google apps.

What Am I Missing?

Yesterday, I began to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Today, I'm frustrated. I thought that I was a good student, and pretty good at following directions. What did I miss? I submitted my request for a certificate of completion for my Google Apps on-line training - after spending at least 12 hours working on the lessons - and was denied. That wouldn't be so bad, except there is no explanation of why, or what I missed. It appears that the only way I can rectify this is to go back and do the whole thing over again. One good thing came out of this, however - I now know that it isn't a good idea to recommend teachers try to go through training on more than one app at a time. Slow-but-sure is wins out. If I have found myself lost in the middle of all this, I can imagine how frustrating it will be for non-techie teachers if not guided correctly - slowly and patiently. I'm going to put my students through the training before I make this available for the faculty. I'm hoping that I can find where I went wrong as I go through the process with my student "tech-squad." I have always learned best when explaining the process to someone else.

I See the Light!

Yes, there is a light at the end of the tunnel! After 5 years of planning and researching the various ways available for educators to incorporate technology, I have only scratched the surface. I have kept cost and ease of maintenance at the forefront of any recommendations and decisions. One solution appears to rise above the rest - Google Apps!

The most difficult part of the task lies before me - rolling this out to the educators and students at Woodland Hills Academy. Training a group of students to help with the transition will make a difference. I have set up a help desk to get teachers accustomed to using the Internet to get help with hardware, software, and networking problems. This site is maintained by one other teacher and myself. I am certifying students as they demonstrate ability to address some of these problems. Once certified to perform a particular task, they can then be sent out to assist the teachers. Some of the tasks they can be certified to perform are,  provide Google Apps training to teachers and students, update software (operating systems, anti-virus, java, adobe, etc.), troubleshoot Internet/Intranet problems, and connect peripheral equipment (printers, doc cameras, projectors, digital tablets, etc.).

I am trying to keep all of the resources "Google-friendly." I'm finding that isn't too difficult. The one problem, however, that keeps popping up is the inability to run flash-based programs on iPod/iPad devices. We don't have the funds available to provide computers to all of our students. If we want our students to collaborate during the school day, they need to bring their own wi-fi enabled devices. That can also prove to be problematic due to the fact that we do not have wi-fi access at school. Teachers who wish to allow Internet access to their students during class time need to purchase a router or access point to set up for their own and/or student use. I hear that the school will be wired for wi-fi within the year. Keeping my fingers crossed!

This past week I have been going through the Google Apps Training. There are many wonderful resources assembled by Google just for this purpose. Knowing this information has already been put together and is readily available gives me hope that this upcoming roll-out is manageable.