Tech Helps to Prepare Our Students for the Future

A member of my PLN and #comcon, Aviva Dunsiger, recently posted the above comment on one of my blog posts. Aviva is great at pushing me to think. She always makes sure to comment thoughtfully and ask questions to encourage further thought.

I am also thinking a lot about my rationale behind using educational technology because of discussions that took place between my BEd students yesterday in our first class. As a whole, my students were less familiar with edtech than I expected. Some even questioned the need for it.

We are responsible for preparing our students for the future. As teachers, we have to be futurists. The future includes technology in our daily lives. For better or for worse, kids in today's classrooms will be using technology every day throughout their lives. If we don't help to prepare them to be responsible digital citizens and how to use technology effectively, who will?

As those of you who know me in person know, I love technology. I love playing with new things and finding ways to make them help my students. I've gotten a reputation amongst peers and students that I am a "tech expert". I am not an expert by any means, but I am an eager learner.

Using tech with students has been transformative for me (and for them). Students who struggled to find and share their voices in a busy classroom suddenly feel empowered through the use of tech. Some ways I've seen this is in the work they create on the Google Drive, the videos they create to share in class (sometimes if they're too shy to present in person), and the projects they collaborate on. Notice that in the previous sentence, I mentioned "creation" twice. It is too easy to be a consumer in our world. Creation is key in life and in education. It's part of the reason I'm committed to blogging more this year. We are all responsible to control our own impact on the world - in person and online. The sooner students start living this the better.

Of course, there is a need for balance, and I don't, by any means, suggest that technology is a replacement for relationships or in-person contact. I only know that it enhances everything I value in a classroom. Tech helps with differentiation, creation, collaboration, authenticity, transparency, communication and engagement.

My Rainbow Eggheads presented at a conference for local teachers last year about how tech enhances their learning. They can tell you far better than I can about the impact edtech has on them.

I think today's teacher is not just a "Guide on the Side", but should be seen as a "Collaborative Curator". Technology gives me the abilities to: personalize all student learning and collaborate with each of my students; aid them in collaborating and connecting with each other and those in the world who can help and support them; help them sort through the huge volume of information available and curate effectively; give each student the opportunity to share his or her voice with each other and the world.

Technology, as Bill Ferriter wrote, is a tool, not a learning outcome. Like any educational tool, it can be used in a variety of ways depending on the creativity of students and teachers, and it does not stand alone.

I share this image frequently. I think Bill effectively summarizes so much about what great educators do, in the face of fears of technology. 

Technology allows me, as a teacher, to bring my practice and student learning to another level. I have deeply internalized the SAMR model to not just enhance, but to transform my teaching. Just substituting a paper worksheet for one online does not an educational enhancement make. When you start to redefine teaching entirely, that is when technology becomes indispensable. Providing my students with opportunities to Skype and collaborate with students in California, create a video for a student in hospital undergoing cancer treatment, bring their families from around the world "into" the room by live streaming class events and sharing our inquiries with changemakers through Twitter and our blog would not be possible without technology.

I think every teacher NEEDS to know and understand the SAMR model. My class learned and lived it last year.

Becoming literate today means a lot more than being able to speak, read and write. As I shared with my BEd class yesterday, there are "New Literacies" illustrated by Silvia Tolisano that was can use technology to help our students develop. 

"New Literacies" include the abilities to collaborate globally, create multimedia and design effectively. 

My new grade 3/4 EPCOTclass is very excited to get started using their Chromebooks. We are several days and some training away from starting to use them daily, but I look forward to exploring with them the challenges and advantages of having access to technology anywhere, anytime in our classroom.

Teachers, we have to keep up with our students and help them keep up with the world. Technology is a tool that can help us do just that.

30-Day Blogging Challenge: Day 1: My Goals

A principal who I really admire and who had a huge impact on my summer through his #SummerLS challenge and EduAllStars podcast (but I've yet to meet in person), Todd Nesloney, tweeted out a link to a 30-day blogging challenge. Despite the fact that I have an alphabetical list of at least 30 posts I'd like to write, I feel like this would be a good way to keep me on track. Plus, once I write one post, I'm always inspired to write another.

Reflective Teaching: A 30-Day Blogging Challenge for Teachers

Day 1:
Write your goals for the school year. Be as specific or abstract as you'd like to be.

I'm going to have to be specific. I have a LOT of goals and have spent a lot of time this summer reflecting on what they are. For ease of organizing my thoughts, I've split them into sections: Values in my Grade 3/4 Classroom (goals for my students and I); Professional Goals (things I'm going to work on as a teacher)

Values in my Grade 3/4 Classroom - EPCOT

Be Brave
Overall, my goal for the school year (for myself and my students) is "Be Brave". Day 1 in the classroom (tomorrow!), that will be our only expectation. As we form as a team, my students and I will work together to co-create roles, responsibilities and expectations.

I ADD EGGS
Last year, my grade 5/6 Rainbow Eggheads and I lived by the recipe for success: ADD EGGS. Initially, I created this recipe, but my students completely bought into it and owned it. They could reflect effectively on their choices, the choices of others and how to improve by using the language in ADD EGGS.

Last summer, I wrote a list of qualities I want to help develop in my students, qualities I'd like them to leave my classroom understanding and practicing every day. I came up with ADD EGGS - accountability, dynamism, drive, engagement, grateful, generous and supportive.
The Rainbow Eggheads lived these values last year. They could rhyme of the acronym easily and came up with "The Rainbow Rule" ("Be an ADD EGG, not a BAD EGG" - they even decided what BAD stood for)! In their end of year Ignite presentations, most of them referred to ADD EGGS and what a difference it made to their learning.

After lots of reflection (and discussion with my trusted colleague, Tiiu), I've decided to KISS (Keep It Simple, Silly) and share ADD EGGS with my incoming class. However, there is one quality that is missing from ADD EGGS, so this year, the acronym is changed to "I ADD EGGS" (I've added innovation to fit with another big class goal this year).

Imagineering and Blue Sky Thinking
Throughout my life, I've been inspired by Walt Disney, and lately, I've been reading a lot about his life, his innovations and his legacy. I can't help but think about how well his philosophies and his message tie into my dream classroom and teaching methods.

This year, my students and I will use Walt Disney (the person, not the brand) as a model. The way he, among other things: listened to all ideas while seeking the best way to do things; looked towards the future; learned from and embraced the past; told stories; thought about creating memorable and educational experiences; questioned everything and was open to change, will be essential to the way I think about teaching this year.

I will encourage my students to embrace Blue Sky Thinking by thinking big, following their dreams and believing in themselves.

We will think of ourselves as Imagineers as we use imagination to engineer our learning.

EPCOT
Because of my interest in all things Disney, I am inspired by Walt's vision for EPCOT (an experimental city, that, after his death, was repurposed as a theme park - my favourite as a child!). It breaks my heart that his vision never saw the light of day, but, learning from his passion and purpose, I thought about what I think a classroom should be.

I think a classroom should be a place where everyone can try new things, share successes with others and embrace change. Teachers should be futurists as we are preparing our students for a future we can't possibly predict. With that in mind, I've called my new class blog and twitter account EPCOTclass. In this case, EPCOT stands for Experimental Prototype CLASSROOM of Tomorrow. The name and vision will help to keep me on track with all of the ideas, values and dreams listed above.

Goals for my BEd Students

Bringing Language to Life for Life
I'm thrilled (and nervous!) to be teaching my first BEd class (Language Instruction in the Primary and Junior Years) this term. I have outlined goals for my students and I as "Big Ideas" in our week 1 slideshow. What I am really aiming to do is ignite (or kindle!) a passion for teaching (Language in particular) in the pre-service teachers who I will have the pleasure of working with.

I've subtitled my course "Bringing Language to Life for Life" and look forward to working with the students in class, on Twitter and through blogs to do exactly that, bring Language to life.

I want my students to leave my class better prepared for and more confident to teach Language to students of all ages. Because of that goal, I have worked very hard to create a comprehensive course and ensure that all assignments are authentic and applicable to the classroom.

Professional Goals

Balance and Wellness
This year, our admin is committed to helping staff find balance in our lives and ensure our wellness. I'm excited to see what this looks like.

Over the summer, I've tried to work on balance, something that has always been a challenge for me. In order to really understand what it looks like, I've created a list of my roles and set goals for the amount of time to spend on each during a day. Since late July, I've been tracking those. It's been enlightening for me to see how my goals align with what I actually do. Also, I see that I only have 24 hours in a day and have to set priorities, one of which is myself as a worthwhile human being. I'm going to work hard to remember that during the year. I will make it a priority to do happy-making things. I'll even work hard to make sure that some of those have nothing to do with my job!

Ongoing Feedback Communicated to Students and Families
In the survey I shared with Room 209 families last year, parents told me to learn to say no (they recognized that I tried to do too much!) and that they'd like to get more ongoing feedback about their children.

Tiiu and I created an Annual Learning Plan for students, which will be a working document that is shared with students and families (an individual one for each student) and developed throughout the year. The link I shared is absolutely a work in progress and I am planning to meet with each family early in the year to set goals and make plans.

Developing my PLN
People call it different things, but I think of my PLN as my Professional Learning Network and I am lucky to include lots of people I know in real life and online in it. I love to collaborate with other educators to bring interesting experiences into my classroom. I will continue to do this through twitter chats, planning and collaborating via Skype and the Google Drive.

An element I am adding this year is to work with inspirational, passionate educators in formal and informal settings. I have started an Educational Think Tank (with Amy Bowker) and the Comment Consortium. Because of getting to work regularly with amazing people, I know will continue to be challenged and pushed me.

Sharing My Learning
I'll be presenting at some upcoming conferences this fall and love to share what I have learned and what I am passionate about with other educators.

By committing to the Comment Consortium and this 30-day blogging challenge, I will regularly share my process with others. More importantly though, I will actually be creating instead of just consuming and I will really take the time to reflect on my practice.

Alternative Education
I teach at an alternative public school and we operate based on a series of tenets that make us different from other sites. A group of us met regularly last year and discussed our school philosophy to celebrate our successes and build upon them for the future.

The idea for Tree Families was born from this collaboration. Each staff member and student in the school will be placed in a "Family" represented by an Ontario tree for their entire time at our school. Families will meet regularly to work together on character education, anti-bullying initiatives and develop skills. We are starting Tree Families next week and I look forward to seeing how they help to build a real sense of ownership and community in our school.

Overall Goal

You Matter
After listening to and reading Angela Maiers this summer, i am thinking in terms of her movement, "You Matter". All of my other goals can be boiled down into this one. Each of us is a genius and it is our duty to share that genius with the world.

By reframing my thinking and remembering that I am significant, I can meet my professional (and personal goals) and let go of issues in a non-judgemental way, using them to move forward and make life better for myself and others. To remind all my students that they matter and help them find their passions and "follow their heartbreaks", I can help them achieve their goals.


It's a good thing this prompt encouraged me to be as specific as I like! As always, I had a lot to say!

Thanks to those of you who got all the way to the end of the post.

What are your goals for this school year? How are you committed to meeting them? What small and large actions are you taking to achieve them?