Why Everyone Should Teach

"The highest result of education is tolerance." ~ Helen Keller

In the wake of this historic election, I, like many others, am left astounded. I am mostly saddened by the hateful rhetoric and actions that have swept the nation. What example are we teaching our children? 

As a teacher, I always said that the subject I was hired to teach came second, for I was tasked to teach kindness, open-mindness, respect, tolerance, and empathy. We must remain humane to our peers in order to make progress in this world. To remember that we are all in this together.

Each day, teachers stand in front of children, students eager to learn, not just about reading and science but about sharing and understanding. From Kinder teachers calling their students "friends" to high school history teachers participating in Model United Nations, we teachers are modeling the loving and inclusive world we live in. We do not see color, ethnicity, economic status or sexual identity. We simply see a child. A child that deserves our attention, wants to be included, treated well, learn everything, speak their mind, and be loved. How hard is that? 

So thank you teachers. As always, your job is vital to the world we live in. Thank you for investing in the future of us all. We are desperately in need of your practice of equality. 

My Favorite ELA Tools

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Showing Empathy

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Why Student Agency?

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Adopting a Growth Mindset

"It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop." ~Confucius

Keep an open mind. Assume positive intent. Think optimistically. Are we doing our best to have a growth mindset? 

Recently, I was in a training, surrounded by several colleagues from other departments. As our presenter began the training, I and a handful of my technology colleagues began to take notes digitally. It was then suggested by one participant that we might adopt a "screens off or devices down" norm. This struck me and my tech colleagues harshly. What others perceive is us just typing on a keyboard or playing on our phones is us taking notes and capturing what needs to be remembered. The same as the person next to me writing in a notebook. So why the difference? 

It's all about mindset. What does that mean? Fixed mindset vs. Growth mindset. A fixed mindset perceives my colleagues and I are not paying attention, think we have poor attitudes, are being rude or a plethora of other assumptions simply because we have technology in our hands. A growth mindset sees us nodding with the presenter, switching between apps to follow the presentation slides, taking notes and writing reminders of things to look up later. They see that we are engaged, that we are understanding what is being said, that we are learning in a way in which we learn best. 

But I'm a professional surrounded by other professionals so I can easily say, "I am taking notes" and it's easily accepted. It got me thinking: what if I was a student, sitting in AP English wanting to take notes on a digital book instead of in the teacher required notebook? What if the student wanted to explain the water cycle using a series of digital images in a book creation app instead of a physical poster displaying the same images that were simply printed onto paper? Is the student learning less? Doing less than his/her peers simply by choosing to use technology as the mode? A growth mindset says No and recognizes that the student is learning in his/her best way. A fixed mindset says Yes and shuts down the engagement, the enthusiasm, the learning by forcing the student to use the stated manner of note-taking or product completion. 

So how does the student get to learn best and the teacher still know the student learned the material? Allow student agency. Students choose the best way to show their learning (within reason, of course). Students learn in different ways and show that learning in an even more vast manner. There is a large conversation to be had here, so more on student agency later.

So, what mindset do you have? Find out!

Annotation Tools

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Digital Note Taking

"Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things." 

~Peter Drucker

I remember when I was a middle school student that I had teacher require me to keep a 3 ring binder with dividers for each subject, to take notes on only one side of notebook paper and keep them in the subsequent sections. I remember hating this. I wanted to keep notes in one spiral notebook with color-coded identifiers for each subject. But it wasn't allowed. 

So when I became a high school teacher, I didn't mind students taking notes the way they wanted. I gave suggestions for various note-taking methods and annotation tools. I welcomed technology into my classroom and monitored student screens and participation closely. 

There are hundreds of various ways to take notes and with just as many note-taking apps out there, it's hard to find the ones that fit each learner's preferences. Here are my suggestions for digital note-taking apps:

Notability

I was lucky enough to be turned on to Notability in 2012 and I fell in love with it. I remember emailing my whole school when it was the free featured app that spring. I rarely pay for apps over a dollar or so, but Notability is SO worth it! Additionally, there is a Mac application that syncs with the iPad app. I love this feature so that I can go from one device to another without  missing something for work or home. I particularly like that the app backs-up to a cloud account of your choice. 

This is the app I use. And I noticed that as I when I was sitting in meetings, several of my colleagues were using it also. I like to created folders with color-coded notes. As a teacher, I was able to do digital annotations for grading purposes and students were able to digitally annotate a text, book or worksheet. I like that I can type, hand-write, add images or whatever it is that I need to take notes, that I can switch back-and-forth at my own preference. 

Evernote 

Bamboo Paper

It's about baby steps

"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change 

their minds cannot change anything." ~ George Bernard Shaw

Rome wasn't built in a single day. Nor did you learn algebra in one solitary sitting. It's all about realistic progress. 

Start by introducing something small. Perhaps something that is already supported by your school and/or district, like Google's G Suite for Education. You could keep a class calendar using Google Calendar that is linked to your teacher webpage; create class folders on your Google Drive that are shared with your students to keep handouts and assignments in; allow students to use Google Docs for writing assignments and Google Slides for presentations - all accessible from school or home simply by using an internet connection. 

Perhaps an educational and fun tool to use as a whole class. If you have (older) students who are able to use their mobile devices or there is a class set of devices available, I suggest using Kahoot! I used Kahoot! in my classroom for various activities: introducing new concepts, quizzing vocabulary, or simply a fun trivia game. Check out Kahoot!'s YouTube channel to see how other teachers are using it for education and fun in the classroom. 

If you have (younger) students or not enough devices, I suggest using Plickers. I love the way you can just sweep the room with your device to capture the students' answers. I also like to laminate a card to assign to each student to keep all year. A great Ticket Out to capture the understanding for the day's lesson. Plus there is data stored after each question that can be examined for re-teaching or further lessons. Check out examples from other teachers on YouTube. 

Introducing technology to your classroom doesn't have to be an insurmountable feat. Try something small at first and get your feet wet and see how your students learn from it, then try a little more or something else. You gotta crawl before you can walk, and walk before you run. Enjoy!!

If at first you don't succeed...

"If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them;

everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you.

If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up.

Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."

~ Michael Jordan

We've all heard the saying from parents, teachers, and mentors alike, "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again." None of us would be where we are today if we didn't take that first step. Much like we ask our students, all I ask is that you TRY! 

As teachers, every moment in the school day is critical and often planned down to the minute; thus, the last thing I wanted to do was spend that precious time waiting for copies in the copy room. Not to mention, many students lost their handout and required another or stuffed it in the bottom of their backpack never to be seen again. I started thinking how much time and paper was being wasted and thought there had to be another way. 

I thought I'd try with something small: posting material to my teacher website. I would post handouts and other materials days in advance, and if a student preferred a tangible copy then she was responsible for printing it and bringing it to class. Sure it took some practice, and there was certainly a learning curve for us all, but I slowly reduced my paper consumption and the students enjoyed being directed to the Internet for homework. Plus, I gained back precious minutes in my day!

So what would you like to try? What have you heard about and thought "that would be fun" or "my students would really learn from that"? Perhaps you try something new in your elementary centers time or a warm-up or ticket-out in a secondary classroom. It is my hope to feature some of my favorite things here on my blog. Mere suggestions that may or may not be right for you and your students, but you'll never know until you TRY! 

Happy trying! :)

A New Journey

"It is good to have an end to journey towards, 

but it is the journey that matters in the end."

- Ursula Le Guin

For the first year since starting kindergarten in 1989, as either a student or teacher, I started this school year not in the classroom. In all honesty, it felt odd. I have become accustomed to prepping my classroom, writing my syllabus and creating get-to-know-you games annually. I looked forward to a clean slate and to try the newly created techie things I discovered over the summer. 

Even though I no longer have a classroom of my own, my new position as a Technology Design Coach allows me the amazing opportunity to support enthusiastic, forward-thinking teachers in all of their classrooms. I could not be more excited to work with all levels and in all subjects and to affect change in teaching the 21st century learner. I know that I will learn just as much from the teachers and students this year on our journey together as I hope to teach them. 

I hope to use this space as a place to generate and share my technology ideas, ones that I would try in my own classroom should it still exist. I hope they inspire you to try in your own classroom, to share with your colleagues, and to create great learning encounters with your students. 

As I will be keeping this blog, so will my amazing and talented colleagues be keeping their own too. I encourage you to check out their journeys also in the links I've put in the right panel here. 

Good Luck this year to all! :)