Don't Count the Days, Make the Days Count

I've had the luxury of working for/with some pretty amazing administrators. These folks have done much to help develop me as an educator. As we enter the last month of school, everybody seems to be counting down to the last day. Each year when this epidemic starts, I am reminded of one of the school administrators I worked for in particular. In 1999, an elementary principal by the name of Joe Stokes brought me into his school, Sutton Elementary, as a third grade teacher. Joe was masterful at supporting new teachers, providing us with everything we needed to ensure we had a successful first year. From materials and direction, to strong veteran teacher mentors, Mr. Stokes was about maximizing everything; talent, resources, and most importantly, time.

As a teacher in Joe's school you learned to maximize your time right off the bat. You knew that whatever you were expected to be doing at a particular time, was to be your focus. If students were present, you were to be interacting with them, maximizing every teachable moment. If we were meeting as a staff, he engaged us. No one longed for the meeting to end. The time flew by. If you were meeting with parents, they received your full attention. And at the end of each and every Weekly Update email he wrote the statement, "Don't count the days, make the days count". Today, some 18 years later, I still find myself living by Joe Stokes' words of wisdom.

While there are only a few weeks left of this school year, I am focused on making the most of the time we have left. I'm focused on closing this year out with learning (student and teacher) happening up until the last minute. I'm focused on my own learning, in preparation for planning the upcoming school year. It's very tempting to start counting down to the end, but it's so important to take full advantage of the days we have left. 

I was fortunate enough to visit with Joe at this beginning of this school year. He reminded me of the teacher I was when I was first starting out. He commented on how much I'd grown professionally, and the turn my career has taken. I doubt he realizes how much of my growth is attributed to the lessons he taught me on maximization. So As we inch toward the end of the school year, I encourage us all to stop counting the days, and make each and every day we have left count. I won't let you down, Mr. Stokes. 

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Get To the "Points"

Being connected is a good thing. I am the first one to advocate for people; adults and kids, to have access to their phones in order to be available and connected pretty much all of the time. The world we live in demands it. Do I think our society needs to exercise courtesy and self control when using devices in certain settings? Yes. After all, we've developed a habit that can be difficult to manage. It takes a lot of willpower to not constantly be checking texts, email, and social media. Especially when we are in work/school situations. Thanks to my son, I've recently discovered an app that helps high school students manage the amount of time they are on their phones. Enter Pocket Points. This app actually encourages people to keep their phones in their pockets during times they should be more engaged live in class. Pocket Points is tied to school locations. Students can download the app, open it, then click their phone closed to start tracking minutes spent off the device. Time off is converted into points that students can redeem for food, treats, and activities at local businesses. While it's small rewards like ice cream or pizza, Pocket Points may be just the incentive some kids need to give their phones a bit of a rest. Parents, do your children have a class in which they should be a little more focused? Then check out Pocket Points, and encourage your kids to give their phones a rest from time to time at school. After all, teaching responsible use should start the second we as parents hand our children their phones.

Note to High School Teachers: Do you find yourself drawn to your personal social media accounts at school? You can use Pocket Points too! What teacher doesn't like an ice cream reward for exercising self control every now and then?  

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Patiently Progressive

Digital lesson design is the focus of most all of our district technology professional development. For each PD we call teachers together (in person or digitally) to share strategies for building quality learning experiences for our students. Sometimes the focus is on the course content itself and how it can best be delivered. Other times our sessions are designed to familiarize instructors with tools to make the delivery of digital content better, as well as how students can demonstrate understanding and apply what they've learned. Regardless of the topic, PD experiences model best practice for teachers, giving them the chance experience these strategies as learners themselves. This is critical. As my YCS teachers are provided with increased opportunities to participate in digital learning experiences in the role of a student, I see more of these strategies transferred into the learning experiences they construct for their own courses. This excites me and makes me incredibly proud of their learning and overall willingness to evolve.

So what's next? As our district looks to provide true blended learning opportunities for students, the modeling will become increasingly important. Professional development that provides teachers a real choice in time, place, pace, and path will require a mind shift. It will look different. It will require a professional commitment to grow. Those 30 minute sessions that involve everyone coming to me to demonstrate, collaborate, and participate, or everyone access our online PD course and..., may morph into a very different structure that won't mirror the PD of our past. It will be a shift in responsibility, a shift in attitude, a shift in culture for all of us. Although it's only February, preparations for next year's professional development start now! I'm planning strategies for giving those who have taken things a bit slower, a means to catch up. At the same time I'm educating myself and preparing for the PD/instructional shift that's to come. And while progress is likely to be slow, I am excited to be patiently progressive. 

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Share the "Tech" Love

Ah, Valentine's Day. That one day a year when folks celebrate LOVE. The love we have for our significant other, our kids, our friends, even our coworkers. People often ask me which tools I love for digital content creation/student production, work flow, modeling/display, sharing, and coding. In the spirit of Valentine's Day I thought I'd take this opportunity to share the tech tools that I LOVE most, based on educational need. While none of these are brand new, Earth shattering tools, they are tested and trusted in our YCS K-12 classrooms. 



Digital Content Creation/Student Production

Explain Everything- This easy to use iPad app ($7.99) allows users to create digital presentations that include images, audio, video, and special effects. Presentations are created slide by slide, for easy recording and editing. Finished products can be shared via a video file or YouTube upload. While the Explain Everything app is simple to use, primary teachers may find that younger learners prefer the Shadow Puppet EDU app (free), which has similar capabilities but is designed for itty bitties. 

Quick Time/iMovie- These Apple programs allow users to create and edit video for perfect presentations. The QuickTime program can record video, audio, and even screen actions, while edits can be made simply within iMovie. Included effects provide for a professional appearance. Not a Mac user? Screencast-O-Matic (free) is a great screen recording alternative. 

iBooks Author-This Apple product allows teachers to create digital text books. In addition to text and images. Widgets enable users to embed video, quizzes, photo galleries, and more. Admittedly, the complexity of iBooks Author makes it a tool designed for more "techie teachers". The Book Creator app ($4.99) is an alternative book creation tool for teachers and students. (Tip: Tools included with Book Creator all you to make awesome comic books!) The app is simple to use and books can be shared in ePub or PDF form. 

PowToons-This web-based program allows users to create cartoon presentations that feature a variety of settings and characters. The music and voice over features make presentations engaging and customized. PowToon creations are easily shared and are a great alternative to traditional slide show presentations. 

Fractus Learning-The Fractus Learning website allows users to create fake text conversations and social media posts, enabling students and teachers to speak from the point of view of others. These digital impersonation tools make lessons unique and engaging. 


Augmented RealityAurasma-Aurasma is a free program that allows users to create/access augmented reality presentations. Aurasma can be used for instructional purposes by linking teacher created video tutorials to trigger images (awesome for math). In addition, Auras are a great way to bring a presentations to life. 

Work FlowGoogle G Suite-Google's suite of programs allow users to create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, visuals, surveys, websites, and blogs. All can be created collaboratively and shared easily with a link for viewing or edits. Because all Google elements are housed in a cloud-based system, all updates are instant and live, and accessible from anywhere. Revision history allows users to track file progress. What's more, because you're working within Google, web-searching is embedded...quick and easy. 

Modeling/DisplayAirserver-This program allows users to enable their iPad to take over their computer so that it can be projected. Shared wi-fi is required for the program to work. Airserver has been critical in our K-8 iPad classrooms, as it allows teachers to model device use project completion for our youngest learners. What's more, students to share iPad creations. Bonus: You can use Airserver with Quick Time to screen record iPad activity. Bam! 

Event/Work SharingTwitter-Twitter is by far the education worlds favorite social media tool for sharing. Not only is Twitter great for school announcements and sharing event/classroom information, but it's critical for educator professional development. Building a PLN is simple, and in a world when education seems to constantly be changing, the takeaways are priceless. Every educator should be utilizing Twitter. I'd love to connect with you! @classTECHnique

SeeSaw-This free program is designed for primary teachers to share/communicate with families in a private, secure environment. SeeSaw's social media-like functionality is a great way for students to share their digital work, keeping home-school communication consistent. Students can "Like"  and comment on each other's posts, making it a social media baby step! 

Coding Code Studio-Common Sense Education's Code Studio courses (free) are the perfect tool for getting students (and teachers) on the road to developing basic coding skills. Code Studio courses are designed for learners of all ages. These courses allow participants  to learn coding processes in a progressive fashion, so that vocabulary and skills can be broken down. With several levels available, the coding fun can go on and on. 

There are thousands of digital tools that teachers and students can utilize to manage work flow and produce. What works best for you and your students depends on your needs and what you have available. Digital tools are just as important to have at the ready as traditional school supplies. The key is selecting tools that will provide teachers and students with choice within the learning process. By doing so, students and teachers will fall in love with learning all over again. 

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Tech PSA for Parents

As a fairly techie lady myself, I fully support my own children utilizing technology to make their lives easier and more enjoyable. I encourage them to embrace social media of all types in order to communicate, connect, and stay informed, and I can honestly say that we are more connected as a family for it. In allowing my children this freedom, part of my responsibility as their mother is make myself aware of what is out there; to know what kids are using and how it works. My own children (and their friends) have graciously provided me with "PD" on apps like Snapchat and Musical.ly so that I can learn what kids are using. So when my daughter introduced me to Live.ly, I was all about learning about this tool as well. I often see Zoe video chatting with her friends and sharing her gymnastics skills on Lively. It's cute, really. A little more public than a regular FaceTime chat, but girls her age love it. Knowing that she engages in these video chats, I've had the discussion with her about appearing appropriately dressed when she is on Lively and things of that nature. Again, all my responsibility since I allow her to participate in using this type of communication. That being said, imagine my surprise when as my husband and I were discussing with Zoe possible gift ideas for her Secret Santa we heard a soft voice providing us with information about what this person might like. That's right, Zoe had carried her iPad into the room when we called her in and her Live.ly friend was listening to every word we were saying. Whoa! Count the reasons that this is a bad idea! Here's the thing, when we asked Zoe why she thought we were upset about this, she couldn't tell us. The issue of violating the privacy of our home had never occurred to her. Why would it? We had not discussed the need to disclose the presence of people visiting our home virtually.
So a PSA for all you parents out there: Don't assume that conversations that you are having in your home are private unless you have specifically had these discussions with your children. Live.ly is only one example of how technology allows for virtual visitors. There are many other options out there. I encourage you to take the time to layout ground rules for use of these apps/programs BEFORE you unknowingly give outsiders access to your private conversations. As parents of little techies, it's our duty.

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Ready and Relevant

Love them or hate them, Digital Learning Days are here again. For the past three years, the district in which I work has taken on the task of providing students and teachers the opportunity to use technology to hold school digitally, rather than within the walls of a school building. We hold these days in response to inclement weather situations, as well as to accommodate the need for professional development and parent-teacher conferences. Why? Because we can and should.

We Can: 

We've had devices in our classrooms and in the hands of students since 2011. Our teachers had devices prior to that. With the rollout of devices we've provided teachers with tools and consistent teacher training, covering digital workflow and the creation/curation of digital content. As a district, we have embraced the ISTE standards, providing insights for how students and teachers should work and learn in a digital age. Our in-class instruction is infused with technology and our students use tech tools and resources with ease, just as they would a pair of scissors or a protractor. (Remember, at some point there is learning curve with these tools as well.) With the technology that our teachers and students have at their disposal, and with the training and support that is offered by the district, Digital Learning Days are a logical way to provide our students with a well rounded 21st century learning experience. 

We Should: 

I was in high school 1990-1994. During that time, college preparedness was a big push. We were told that if we graduated from high school with the required courses, got into college, did well and graduated, we would be employable in our field. And that was pretty much the case. Twenty years prior, when my parents were in high school things were different. Folks graduated from high school and secured quality, well paying jobs. During each of these eras, students received an education relevant to the time in regard to courses offered and instructional practices. Fast forward twenty plus years from when I graduated from high school. We now live in a world dominated by technology. The careers that our students are preparing for WILL require the use of technology at some level. While some people still try to dispute it, the fact is we cannot provide students with a relevant education and ignore technology. It is our responsibility as educators to acknowledge, accept, AND embrace this. 

Admittedly, when our district held our first Digital Learning Day in 2014, we were ahead of the game. Few districts (at least in Indiana) had implemented such days. It was a bit of a shock to the systems of our students, teachers, parents, and yes, even our administrators. The growing pains were real. Questions of, "should we be doing this", and "is this appropriate" needed to be addressed as we transitioned into this new platform for K-12 learning. With every eLearning event held in our district, we learned and adjusted in an effort to improve the process. Meanwhile technology continued to be integrated into our classrooms daily. Now in 2016, many districts around the state and nation have begun implementing such days. With the experience we've had in our district, questions surrounding Digital Learning Days should no longer focus on whether or not we should have these days, but rather how we can continue to design them in a manner that keeps the learning relevant to our students. Today as I am buzzing around making final preparations for the Digital Learning Days that will take place the remainder of this week, I am excited about the online lessons that our students will experience. I've looked at all of them and they are darn good! I hope that our stakeholders keep in mind that as a district, we are READY. I hope that they consider the importance of providing our students with an education RELEVANT to the world we live in. Finally, I hope that they embrace the opportunity to be part of a district that both challenges and supports students and teachers as they learn and grow. 

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The Latest iOS Update...It's a 10!

I've been receiving the funniest texts lately. Texts that include invisible ink, fireworks, funny gifs, and pulsing hearts. It seems my complete contact list has finally ran the iOS update, and the messaging enhancements have my forty-something friends messaging like teenagers.

I find it funny that folks hesitate so long to run software updates. I see that red update notification bubble and I can't help myself. I can't wait to see what's new! After all, the purpose of an update is to make things better, right?  So if you've not checked out the update, do it! Here's a little cheat video to help you get started. 

http://youtu.be/6_TnWhigOng

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