The Last Days

We have three weeks left. Now is the time for students to start relaxing and getting a little "mouthy" with their comments. A few start talking back and making inappropriate comments at the wrong times. Some students can handle the change that comes with summer break and some cannot. Some students do not know what is on the horizon. No structure, no rules, no opportunities. They need to know the teacher understands and will always like them.
I have a few suggestions to make it through these last few weeks.
• Relax.
• Take a breath.
• Don't take it personally.
• Let the students know they still know what is right and they can hold on to the end. Encourage.
• Don't give up on the rules. Give a few more breaks and reminders, though.
Keep the schedule going. If things change too much and there is too much free time, there will be trouble. We always add in a movie making activity for students to crest movies of what they have learned through the year. Each group, one subject or topic.
• Love the students. Don't let their words and actions during the last couple weeks change how you feel about the child themselves. They are still children, learning as they go, testing their boundaries, trying to make it through life. As we are.
Change is in the air and students feel it. They will be heading home without the same schedule and, sometimes, without friends they are used to being with everyday. The weather is changing and they want to be outside playing in the sun. They need to know they are still loved during these times of change. These might be hard weeks, but we can give students the best send off so they will remember the good times, not he bad couple weeks at the end.

Learning Never Ends

It is the end of the year. We have three weeks left and our end of year testing is complete. I want the students to understand that learning never stops. We have more math, language, science, social studies, and other subjects to teach. After the big test, there is still more to learn. I find that if I stop teaching after we have taken the test, it sets a bad example for the students. It teaches them that there is a point where the learning does stop. It doesn't. I shouldn't. That is the lesson I hope to instill in my students. Keep learning.

Choosing a Path

My family takes a trip to Death Valley NP every year for a family reunion. While we were there this year we went on a new trail we had never been on. As we drove I this gravelly, bumpy road, we started looking over the next hill for the end. We were hoping for this amazing end to a slow, bumpy trip. It never came on this road. Many times the roads we take end up somewhere, but this one didn't.
I always wonder why is it about a new road that keeps us going on it? Is it that someone told us it would be amazing? Do we have hope it will get better? Or do we just do it because it is the road we have always been on and do not know how to get off it? What if we didn't even get on this road? Would we know what we were missing?
So what does this have to do with education or technology? When a new technology comes out we need to decide what road we are going to take? Is the technology going to be better or will it be a dead end? Will it be something great as we use it, or will be need to get rid of it and move to something else.
There are so many options out there and they keep adding more all the time. Here are a few tips I try to use.
• Make sure the tech you want to use works for you.
• A piece of technology should not add to your work, or the kids work, but become part of your program easily.
• If an app can take the place of something else, or a few something else's, use it.
• Try out each new piece of tech before giving it to a student. Have your kids use it. Make a "New App" team of students to test them out. You will find out what works and how interesting it really is.
Whatever road we are on, or tech we use, we need to know what know what our plan is. If it keeps on going on forever and doesn't improve the student learning, we might want to take a new road. We might want to even try a new road. Technology is here and we need to use it wisely. Get on the road, but choose how far you will go when it gets bumpy. It might be worth the wait? Or not.
Note: Seth Godin wrote a book that is similar to this subject. It's called "The Dip". I would suggest it.

Making Tech Commonplace in the Classroom

I read somewhere that tech needs to become as common as pencils and paper in the classroom. When it does we have gone past the "honeymoon stage" and into the "lets see what this can really do" stage. I think my class is getting to that stage.
We started using iPads in our fifth grade classrooms 1:1 two years ago. It was hard deciding what to have students use them for at first. Then we decided on the second year that we would use them for everything we could. They kept them at their desks and used them as often as possible. We never gave up writing with pencils, using paper, or books. We did use them for writing to publish their text, make presentations, write daily journals, and email their teachers about what they were learning.
We had them use their iPads as a learning management system. They get on to see what they need to do for assignments, even though we still remind them where to find them. They submit discussions, comments, pictures of paperwork, and answer surveys on the LMS. They also have access to all assignments for the unit we are on. The LMS makes them complete assignments in order so they complete everything before moving on to the next section.
We use Google Drive to type in assignments for writing, language, social studies, and science.
What I found was that the more we use the iPads, the more the kids treat them as a tool and not a toy. We have a couple education games on the iPads, but we use them as we have most games, for specific times, not as rewards. This has curtailed them asking to play the games. As I watch what students are doing with the iPads, they are treating them like I would hope they would, as tools of learning.
I have students looking for new ways to show me how to use the iPads for their work. They ask to take pictures for their portfolios. A couple have asked about making movies to show what happened in a certain project. Some want to use the technology to add to their learning. It is becoming a part of their learning and becoming commonplace in the classroom.
The more we use technology, the more it becomes a part of the way the classroom and education is. If we don't use technology, it is a novelty to be played with. We need to use what we have to the fullest potential. Not adding to the work, but changing it. Making it commonplace.

Sharing the Data

I looked through my year end test scores from last year and almost cried. But I didn't. Everyone in our state did poorly. Not a surprise from a new, tougher, different kind of test. I realized it was the first time the test was given and that was a benchmark for the student and for me to start from and build upon. Time to get to work.
Test had been, and always will be, the thorn in teachers sides... if we let it. It can become the knowledge that helps us progress as teachers. It can also be the knowledge that helps students take ownership of their own learning.
So, I handed the scores to my fifth graders and we dug into what they mean and how it affects them as a person. We talked about progress. We talked about explaining the scores to their parents. We talked about setting goals so their parents would understand the full plan of what we are doing. We talked about how to show exactly what they know and not less. We discussed all this information as to make them more accountable for their work.
I feel sharing all the data we have with students will give them a better picture of who they are and how to go about using the education we are providing for them. So I share. Everything.
We are getting ready for parent conferences in a couple weeks. We have talked about the students taking on he role as conference leader to show and explain what we are doing and how they are doing as a student. Not just in my class, but as a student overall. I hope to give students more power over their education. Controlling the conference will students the chance to talk with their parents about how they are doing. More communication. More ownership. Using data to build strengths and work on weaknesses. The more they know, the more they can control their own outcome.

What Would Your Keynote Be?

I was asked to be a Keynote Speaker at a local Flipped Conference in a couple weeks. I have to say I am pretty excited. I don't mind being in front of people. I really like talking with teachers to get their ideas and learning from them.
I started thinking about what I wanted my keynote to be about. I had a few ideas. Then I went to the Schoology NEXT Conference and Jennie Magiera was one of the keynote speakers. Her question at the end was, "What would your keynote be?" That got me thinking more about what I wanted to say. What was the one thing that I want other teachers to think about before school starts?
In the flipped classroom there are great questions about face to face learning and being a student in my classroom. Those that use the flipped idea have thought about those ideas. I think about Brian Bennett and Ramsey Musallam and their ideas about moving further in the classroom. These have taken me to losing control in the classroom. Giving the students the ownership of the learning. Giving up control is hard fora teacher. At least it is for me. I have been changing the balance of control toward the students for a few years now and it has helped with discipline in my class and more student engagement.
So my question for you, the reader, is what would your keynote be? What would you teach other teachers if you had the opportunity to present? And why do we not take the time to prepare something to teach to teachers so we can become an expert on the one thing we think is important in our classroom? So, what would your keynote be?

Learning Management System Questions

I have been looking into different Learning Management Systems (LMS) for a while now.  I started with Edmodo and loved the ease of use with it, but have started using Schoology because of the many options it gives me. It has some amazing tools for discussions, assignments, assessments, and collaboration. One of the new bonuses it will have soon is the ability to video conference with a student.  I can see that being used during class with an absent student, or with another teacher to teach a lesson.  My district has bought into the Enterprise version and that gave me even more options. Because we are using Schoology, a few teachers in our school attended the Schoology #NEXT14 conference in Denver in June.  They put on quite the shindig for their first conference.  The keynote speakers were amazing, the break out sessions were great and very helpful for a guy that has use it a little for a few PD classes.  The conference gave me some great ideas on how to use it, but then came the questions I had to ask.

• How is this going to make me a better teacher?
• How is this going to give my students the opportunity to learn more?
• Is this going to make my job easier or harder?
• Will it become a place to just upload packets or will it have something more to it?
• How can I use this tool to truly differentiate the learning in my class without making it a “To Do List” of assignments?

I have to ask myself these questions because I am a bit tired of the “magic bullet” app or program every other week. I do not mind working a little harder to provide new and better opportunities for my students to learn. I do not want a paperless program that I scan pages of work into and upload them for students to complete and hand back to me. I want less paper, but not because students can copy it into their annotation app and send it back. I want something more. I have district mandated programs that give me plenty of worksheets if I choose to use them, but what can I put in my LMS that will help the students go deeper in their learning? How can I set up my lessons for students to think about how it all fits together and then solve the problem without being able to Google it or use Wolfram Alpha to show the process?

So here I sit with my computer and the District mandated programs to work out my lessons and fit them into Schoology. In the end it all comes down to the teacher and the lessons. The LMS will be a great tool to distribute the opportunities and activities for students to work from, but the difference between myself and the computer teaching is the opportunities I provide for my students to learn. Schoology will be the program  I will use for my class because of the many options it has. Even with a Learning Management System, I will still need to provide the learning.