ISTE 2014!

ISTE - the International Society for Technology in Education - hosts its annual conference every summer, and this year the event will be held in Atlanta, only 203 miles from the Tuscaloosa City Schools central office.  Though your mileage may vary (literally) this instructional technology extravaganza will never be closer to home.

Scheduled for June 28-July 1, the conference boasts hundreds of workshops and learning sessions, multiple keynotes, an expo hall featuring more than 500 companies, and opportunities to connect with close to 20,000 educators and leaders in our field.

A number of TCS faculty and staff will be in attendance, leading sessions and learning with and from some of the most thoughtful educators from all over the country and the world.  This blog post is the first in a series on this massive learning opportunity.  Check back for more as the conference date approaches.

Are you considering attending ISTE?  Click here for important dates to remember, and leave a comment to let others know you're participating.

photo credit: The Daring Librarian via photopin cc

ALEX Lesson Plans

I provide a lot of professional development to others.  I also attend a lot of professional development.  I enjoy learning and love when I can help facilitate the learning of others.  Recently, someone said something to me that made me really think about the methods of professional development that I typically deliver.

I've noticed that when attending tech type PD, STI PD generally rates skill sets for beginners, intermediates, or advanced.  I am going to begin to host my PD sessions the same way.  I do not want teachers to feel like I am assuming that they don't know certain things, but I want those that are struggling to feel like they can safely ask questions and have time to reflect.  I also want our rock stars to be pushed to another level of excellence.

By now you are probably asking yourself as to why the heck I am saying all this.  I do have a point and it IS tied to tech, I swear.

Recently I attended the ALEX Lesson Plan Summit sponsored by the Alabama State Department of Education.  During that session, teachers from across the state were asked to submit lesson plans.  Each lesson went through a very rigorous process of submission.  The lessons we submitted had to be tied to standards, have clear outcomes, and include a technology component.  You may find those lessons here.  You may search by content area, then find your standard, and then find lessons that may help you to teach those standards.

While some of you are experts and may not need any additional lessons, some of you may be like me and like to glean ideas off others.  If you are nervous about integrating technology into your lessons, just take a peek at these for lessons that infuse technology in a very easy way.

Shannon Bogert is a secondary curriculum specialist with the Tuscaloosa City Schools.  Email her at the address mentioned above or connect with her on Twitter (@shannonbogert1).

Questioning Connectedness

Connected Educator Month causes me to stop and ask questions? I ask lots of questions anyway.

What would connected educators look like?

My friend and colleague, Andrew Maxey, correctly points out connections cannot be forced. Networking happens organically. So what is the proper environment to make the seeds of connectedness produce fruit? How can leaders tend to their crop of educators to generate a better harvest?

What structures keep us separate?

I routinely refer to teaching as the most lonely profession. Using an industrial revolution model, we isolate teachers in a classroom with 20 to 35 kids and no other adult contact for most of the day. Any structured adult time is usually centered around "sit-and-get" meetings or petrified development.

If a teacher does not do well in managing alone 30 kids, s/he is regarded as less-than. I wonder how many really good teachers have left the profession because those management skills would have developed later, if the structures existed for the teacher to be used differently until management skills developed.

What current structures could help us be more connected?

We have teachers who are very good a certain things and not very good at others. How do we allow teachers to be better matched with their strength areas? Are there scheduling changes we can make to facilitate this process? Are there people within the current system whose skills can be better matched with tasks?

We now have tremendous technology tools for communication and collaboration we can use within the current system to improve how we connect with one another.

What structures have to change for educators to be more successful?

Is there any facet of educationism so dear we would not sacrifice it if we knew it would create a most ideal educational situation for our students and teachers? Are all "cards on the table" when we talk about how teachers can be encouraged to be learners in a professional community?

How might teachers quality of life be different if we answered some of these questions?

Chris Jenks is the instructional technology coordinator for the Tuscaloosa City Schools.  Follow him on Twitter, where he goes by @chrisjenks.

Learning Isn't Optional or Why I Love Twitter

Our system hosted our two-day best practices with technology conference this week. #TCStech Days were a place for brand new teachers, new to our system teachers, and seasoned teachers to collaborate and play with new tools. The focus of #TCStech Days is to enhance learning, not just use shiny and snazzy technology. We had three time slots of concurrent sessions in the morning and then two open work sessions in the afternoon. Here is the Google spreadsheet of our schedule.

On the first day of #TCStech Days, this inspiring tweet showed up in my feed.

T&l tip for aspiring outstanding teachers: teaching is an art & lasts a life time; enjoy the profession! #ukedchat pic.twitter.com/cRK1M5ydFc
— theharrispeeps  (@theharrispeeps) August 6, 2013

That quote resonated in my mind. "Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching." What does it mean to never stop learning? To me, "never stop learning" means never stop asking for help, sharing successes, sharing failures, asking opinions, researching, brainstorming, or connecting with other educators. In a word, "never stop learning" means collaboration.

Collaboration is the heart and soul of a connected educator. Collaboration is why I love Twitter. Twitter is almost instantaneous professional development, tailored to your exact needs and in real time. Many educators have said they learn more from Twitter than any conference they have attended. Not only does Twitter provide PD, but Twitter is also a continuous, ongoing dialogue with other educators. Our system was looking at implementing Chromebooks, so I asked the Twitterverse who would know about Chromebooks. @web20classroom connected me with @kylepace, who then agreed to a Google Hangout with @chrisjenks and I to discuss Chromebooks. Chris and I were looking at learning management systems for our district, so I tweeted out this Google document and asked for feedback. Eight colleagues - some I know and some I do not - collaborated on the Google document. Through one tweet, I was able to connect with three other educators I have never met to answer my questions. Thank you @clonghb @mosspike and @davidtedu!

If I need a question answered, I tweet it. If I'm looking for a resource, I tweet it. If I have an awesome anything to share, I tweet it. If I need feedback, I tweet it. I tweet lots of things. I tweet because it is my main way to collaborate outside of whatever walls I may find myself in on a given day. I tweet because I don't know everything. I tweet because I need to perfect this craft of teaching with other people who have the same mindset I do - to never stop learning.

It may be the fact that I was raised by a Nationally Board Certified Library Media Specialist and twice Teacher of the Year, but I truly believe that as an educator, regardless of age or experience, we must collaborate or we will go extinct. My mother taught me that you can always learn something from someone, even if it is how not to do something. Twitter provides a place to share what we learn - the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The first part of collaboration is to share. If you are on Twitter, don't just browse or retweet. Join the conversation! Look at this Google spreadsheet of twitter chats you can join any day of the week. The second part of collaboration is to put to action what you have learned, to try something new or different regardless of the success it may yield. As teachers, we must continually learn so that we can provide the best process for our students to learn. A teacher cannot use the same lesson plan every year. Besides, that information needs to be refreshed and updated in times such as these. As teachers, we can never stop learning because that's what we expect from our students, right? So model it for them. Show them how to learn. Provide an environment for them to love learning. If we don't teach them how to do that, who will?

Melinda Sears is the Title I Instructional Technology Coordinator for the Tuscaloosa City Schools.  Check out her website or connect with her via Twitter.