Tuesday, June 26, 2012

ISTE 2012 Day 2

Highlight Session Today

Growing Digital: Grassroots Google Integration for Staff and Students
Peter and Kristal started the session using a Google Form to collect information about the audience - role, Google level, etc.  Really great!    Here is a link to their Skyline site - https://sites.google.com/site/skylinecpi/

This presentation speaks to the "grassroots" initiative not a top down deployment.  

They shared a nice video that tells the story of curriculum and portfolio - of how they began creating online portfolios.  The deployment of portfolios has driven the use of GAFE in the district.    They reinforce the idea that using Google for portfolio allows teachers to leverage the use of Google Apps in their classes.  Students create their own portfolio pages/subportfolios for many class projects.  More and more teachers ask students to make a site for project work or competencies of the course, etc. 

Teachers have put Curriculum in Google Sites which helps facilitate the process of "modeling."  This also makes it so easy to share curriculum resources! 

Students learn how to create a portfolio in five easy steps.   Step 1.  Log in, Step 2. Create a Site Step 3. Create a Doc Step 4 Create a Link  Step 5 Post to the Site

Teacher tips!
#1 - Have student submit a form with their site address and email.
#2 - Teach them to share "anyone with the link" and then put the link in a form.  Google sites are shared anyone with the link.

We need to help students learn how to organize all their online world - with Student Learning Networks.

Use sites as a base for the Student Learning Network - teach them how to organize themselves by putting their schedule on a page, the bell schedule on a page, embed feeds from their Twitter, Facebook, Evernote.  Create a Page for each course - the portfolio becomes a cog in the students learning network rather than independent of it.  So English 9, 10, 11, 12 are sectioned on the same page with a link to syllabus and competency assignments.  The portfolio is actually a useful document that they use all the time as a Student Learning Network.  Teachers tell the kids to create docs and pages that are part of their LN - they join flicker groups, embed you tube channels, etc. 

  • Make a template with your twitter feed and homework calendar embedded in it and have the kid make a page.
  • Evernote has a widget so you can take notes in evernote within the widget in your google site.
  • Project page - can include resources - such a RSS feeds etc.    pasque@aaps.k12.mi.usStudent
  • Portfolio - Use as a table of contents to the artifacts - with links rather than creating pages and embedding! :)  Good idea! 
Yes, of course I missed the EdTech Team presentation - which was full by the time I got there!!!  But here is a link to the presentation... http://www.edtechteam.com/iste12

OK, I'm in at the end.  People - set up a YouTube Channel with your Google Apps Account!  Add short videos to your playlist! 

YouTube for Teachers - www.youtube.com/teachers

8:30-9:45am



9:30 Google
10:00 Google
Global, Creative, and Entrepreneurial: Defining High Quality Education [Concurrent Session; Keynote]
Location: SDCC Hall B1

Quick and Easy Search Tips
Chromebooks for Education
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10:30-11:30am
Dispelling Myths about Google Apps for Education [Concurrent Session; Lecture]
Location: SDCC Technology Infrastructure Pavilion (Hall D)
Henry Thiele, Maine Township High School District 207 
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12:15-1:15pm

1:30 Google
Google to the Max: 2012 Power Users Guide [Concurrent Session; Spotlight]
Location: SDCC Ballroom 20CD Howie DiBlasi
Web Apps Slam (repeat)
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2:00-3:00pm


3:00 Google
Growing Digital: Grassroots Google Integration for Staff and Students [Concurrent Session; Lecture]
Location: SDCC 4 Peter Pasque, Ann Arbor Skyline High School with Kristal JaaskelainenRolling out Google Apps
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3:45-4:45pm
Google Certified Teachers Share: What's New from Google for Educators? [Concurrent Session; Panel]
Location: SDCC 8
Mark Wagner, EdTechTeam, Inc. 
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5:00-6:15pm
Chromebook Classrooms [Concurrent Session; Birds-of-a-Feather]
Location: SDCC 30CD
Donna Teuber, Richland School District 2 with Pam Hanfland, Jason Markey, Jon McGreevy, MaryAnn Sansonetti-Wood, Janine Sears and Dan Sitter
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Monday, June 25, 2012

ISTE 2012 - San Diego Day 1

I cannot believe it has been an entire year since Philly!  :)  The ISTE Conference has so much to offer (and so often at the same time, it can be so difficult to decide what to attend!  I've decided to focus on leveraging Google Apps for Edu to create student centered, technology rich, collaborative learning environments, learn how to help students create ePortfolios that will motivate and inspire them!   I am looking forward to Helen Barrett's presentation on using Google for Interactive Portfolios!  I find that this conference has become about rich and engaging learning environments and strategies with a common denominator of technology!  It is so great to be a part of this community!  :)




8:00 Lobby DE - Student Showcase and Posters

EdTechInnovators - Jared Mader
www.edtechinnovators.com
email: jared@edtechinnovators.com
Twitter@rlmaderj

Other Showcase and Posters:
Reading Across State Lines - Virtual Literature Circles
Podcast Power!  http://tinyurl.com/podcastpower1

Common Core aligned - Find, build, and share curriculum - http://www.classconnect.com
CUE Rockstar Camp Session Resource Pages



8:30  Ignite Session - Presenters have 20 images each showing for 15 seconds to share their passions, ignite yours.  Presentations include - with short "takeaways..."  - These went by FAST!

 Fast five for Infinite Thinkers -Chris Walsh
 Quick hacks for teachers -
1.  Have students advocate for themselves
2.  Two minute rule - if you can find it online in two minutes or less don't TEST on it! :)

 Publishing Kids Creative Podcast Stories Online Using Haiku -Mary Ann Domanska - 2nd Grade Teacher. Uses technology to inspire writing creatively.  Gives students an opportunity to write freely - long term spaces of time for creative writing.  End product is to put on a performance. 
 1.  Allow them time to write
 2. Conference with your Students 1:1
 3.  Help them REWRITE
 4.  Publishing - a celebration - make a big deal about this - have an "author's party.

With an ipod the students do a "dramatic" reading of their stories - fun to watch and listen.  Stories are recorded and placed into Haiku - mdomanskas2ndgrade.blogspot.com

In Record Time: Disruptive Innovation to Say the Least...Traci House, DOT Joplin Schools
Joplin Disaster - review of the damage from the tornado.
Tornado in May School began in August.  Visioning Days - Fast forward a 21st Century Plan.  Textbooks are GONE.  Textbook free.  Intense PD - they don't even use Digital Textbooks.  Put school in a mall.  thouse@joplin.k12.mo.us


How Digital Video Changed One Teacher's Life - Rushton Hurley, NextVista.org
With a larger audience they want it to be GOOD!  With just a teacher audience they want it to be "good enough."  Free software and free webtools - allow teachers to make videos/students.
  • Challenged kids to creatively describe something they have learned in school in 90 seconds or less as part of a contest.  
  • "Kids can disconnected because they lose confidence..." "Kids create share and celebrates eachother's things..."
What If? David Jakes
"The opposite of What if is Yeah But..." -
Create a communication culture to support change.  Ask questions and challenges your thinking.  Say What if rather than Yeah but...


The Evolution of Learning, Past, Present, Future - Vince Leung co founder of mentor mob
Standardization came as a result of the industrial revolution.  Teachers are trying to engage with children of the future with methods from the past!  Physical access is not an issue anymore.  "The amount of data that is created in 48 hours is equal to the amount of data created from the beginning of time to 2003."  Our education system was born in the 1800's and while transportant and medicine has changed education has not.  Chilren today are advanced problem solvers, interactive, and critical thinkers.  Use real world examples like sports and video games - because those are the areas that they are willing to fail and continue to try to succeed.  Knowing what motivates children to learn is just as important, no, MORE important than knowing what they need to learn.    Top 10 problems of humanity over the next decade can be greatly alleviated by improving education.


Jump off the Testing Train - Lisa Parisi
"Testing is a runaway train - out of control.."The data collection is there to bring more money into the district.  In addition to 18 hours of testing they have to teach them how to take the test!  Weeks and week preparing for tests!  "Erase to the top..."  Not all kids test the same regardless of their knowledge and skills.  Lisa is going to teach to the common core - her way - in an engaging way without regard to the test.  She is not going to worry or have her students worry about the tests.    "If we teach well they will do well enough on the test..."  "I am going to keep connecting with other countries..."  "Testing is not teaching..."


Will Free Benefit the Rich? Justin Reich  @bjfr - edtechresearcher.org
"As technology innovation goes up, learning goes up..."  "Teachers will use tech with their higher level classes more than lower level classes"


19 Bold Ideas for Change - Will Richardson, Powerful Learning Practice
  • Forget open book, open phone - JUST GIVE OPEN NETWORK TESTS! 
  • Roll your own text - make your own wikis and build upon them
  • Google yourself - google your kids as well
  • Flip the Power Switch - 
  • Change the World- Do work that changes the world - we can do that now!  Publish.
  • Stop telling kids to do their own work - encourage collaboration!
  • Learn First. Teach Second
  • Stop giving workshops to teachers for PD - come having learned first and talk when you get there!
  • Share Everything!  
  • Ask questions when you don't know the answers!
  • I want to be found by strangers on the Internet!  
  • Unlearn what you know about teaching!  Relearn how to teach!
  • Resume Smesume...  Get an online presence - a PLC....  
  • Get a Network - Twitter, etc
  • Go free and open source!  
  • Create and Uncommon Core!  :)
  • Don't Deliver the Curriculum!  Discover the curriculum!  Engage them!
  • Disrupt the system!  
  • Tell people that Education is about Doing What is Best for Kids! 
Igniting Creativity with Movie Making - Selena Ward @thetechtiger
Selena finds students who find their passion through creating movies and more and more students are there.    Give them the first few lines of a script - start with a joke.  Theatre games - students come up with a variety of roles and expands creativity.  This is not about creating "hollywood films" - you get all sorts of things.  They are not good camera people or actors - and don't judge them for that.  Do they convey and idea or a can they persuade or guide?  Can they use their own tools, make their own decisions, come to a consensus working in a group?  If they can do this the job is well done.  There will be epic fails.  Crash and burn is not out of the realm.  The minute you tink of giving up, think of the reason why you held on so long!  When doing PBL don't look for perfection.

Tomorrow's Ignite 3:45pm 6A

9:30 - Exhibit Hall or Sails Hall Playgrounds
Brief stop at Google and Haiku! -

Special note!  My DAD just completed a surgery successfully and is in recovery!  THANK YOU GOD!!!!

10:45-12:15 - 33C CUE Rock Star Session "May the Forms Be with You (and Flubaroo Too!)  Google Forms for quizzes, surveys, rubrics and assignment drop boxes.  Then use Flubaroo to grade your quizzes and provide student feedback.  https://sites.google.com/site/rockstarteachercamp/isterockstar/google-forms

Create a Google Quiz with a Google Form....The trick is to create a page break with the answer after every question.  Then they pick the answer and when they click on Continue, it gives them the correct answer and records what they put.  Good for a study guide!  :)  Check out the quiz I just made!  

Tips:
  • With a Google Apps Domain, you can choose to record their name upon starting the quiz, if not make sure you ask for First, Last,
  • Ask for Email - With the Flubaroo Script it will email them their score.
  • Class / Period (make it multiple choice) - so you don't have it spelled different ways for the same.
  • Flubaroo needs to skip essay and short response - use it for selective response.
CoPresenter - Jennifer Roberts - English Teacher - Draw evidence from literature, use technology.  Prepare theme and mood in both books.  She had a series of text questions in a form - she published the spreadsheet on her blog, hiding the column with the kids name.  So the Doc is online, names gone, and they reviewed the input together.

With Flubaroo - you can have it score immediately, send email with results, you can regrade when you get more input, it will also highlight questions that a lot of people get wrong.

Ways/reasons to use Google Forms!  :)
  • Create a Wordle - from all of the responses in a specific column - text, etc.  
  • Drop Box - Turn in Work in a Google Form - name, period, URL (put it in your portfolio or website or make the doc public and paste the link).  Make sure they change the share settings!
  • Survey  Recommended - anyone with the link.
  • Create folders in your Google Drive for Quizzes, Surveys, DropBoxes, etc...
  • Publish Student Work - English - Name of Story, First Paragraph and Link (can be anonymous)
  • Rubrics! Use the Scale.
12:15-12:45 Find Lunch (this did NOT happen)

12:45 - 1:45 Student Centered Interactive EPortoflios with Google Apps (HELEN BARRETT!) SDCC 8
Simon Sineks - Underlying motivation for doing eportfolios...

From the National Tech Plan - regarding digital portfolios
  • Set their own learning goals 
  • Express their own views of their strengths, weaknesses and achievements 
  • Take responsibility for them!
What are Interactive Portfolios?
  • Use Web 2.0 
  • Allow for reflection in multiple formats 
  • Showcase to multiple audiences 
Student Centered - FOCUS on student interests, passions, and goals! Give them choice and voice in their portfolio and reflection. A tool to support lifelong learning!

The WHAT of Portfolios... Electronic Portfolio; Digital Repository; Showcase ; Collection of Artfacts - artwork, investments

The WHY of ePortfolios ... Reflection, Assessment, Identity, Learning, Guidance, Accountability
Employment  THE PURPOSE DRIVES THE CONTENT.

Suggestion for schools:  Write your vision statement. Determine what do you want to achieve with a particular portfolio.   Create an Online Portfolio Handbook. 

Helen talks about "passion..." Students need passion - they need to develop passion for things throughout their lives. She references Lisa Nielsen's Blog Post - Preparing Students for Success by Helping Them Discover and Develop Their Passions

Process and Product.  Social Networking Relationship.  There are many similarities between Portfolio and Social Networking processes. Technology has added value for archiving, hyperlinking, collaborating, and publishing. Students are drawn to friending/commenting - and we need to leverage this more in ePortfolios to make them interactive.

Balancing the Two Faces of Eportfolio - Working Portfolio and the Showcase Portfolio. This is where the Google comes in. Helen references Google Docs for the Digital Archive and Google Blog for Reflecting, Commenting, Collaborating. Sites can be used for the Showcase.

Reflection & Commenting - Use the Blog to post and get feedback and then link those posts on your showcase portfolio.  Reflection - Taxonomy of Reflection

Why Google?  Integrated EcoSystem  |  Single SignOn  |  Walled Garden  |  Transferable


NOTE: Make sure you use a GAFE account in your school - don't use individual Gmail accounts! (email me- allisonmollica@gmail.com if you want to ask me about this).
Level 1. Storage - Google DocsLevel 2. Reflective Journal - Blogger or Announcement page in sitesLevel 3. Showcase - Use Google Sites  
Quick tips!  Grade 12: Use Sites for Senior Project with Announcement Style page as a journal of entries... with project updates.  |   Use the Announcement Style Page to Embed a series of Artifacts throughout the year.

AHA!  Portfolios should be a conversation about learning...rather than just a presentation!

Even More!  TEACHER DASHBOARD! http://hapara.com/teacher-dashboard-for-google-apps $250/year for classrooms or $4 per year per student

Finally - Reflection and relationships is the heart of the ePortfolio. Conversations about learning. Helen says portfolios can help learners find their voice.

Further your knowledge while you still can... Helen has a poster tomorrow at 10-12 Table 36. REAL ePortfolio Academy... See the Dual Skill Development Slide.

PS.  The best way for teachers to learn how to teach Portfolio is to do their own.

4:30 - Google Chrombook Apps SmackDown - Google Booth - I am going to check this out again, I didn't realize there were so many apps and extensions!

5:30-6:45 - Room 4 Helen Barrett, Electronic Portfolios for Student Centered Learning Room 4

Advantage of EduBlog - tags, categories, reverse chronological order.  Can search on key words.
Advantage of Blogs - can transfer data from one blogging platform to another.
Wiki - (wikispaces, google sites, etc are a series of pages without the classification abilities but more control over the presentation).  Can set up a template.
Mahara - ePortfolio tool built in New Zealand - transitioned into K12 - was not originally built for K12 schools.  Integrated with Moodle makes it easier.  More time involved with Mahara.

7:30pm Google Meetup - for Certified Trainers/Teachers

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Join Me for PD in Your PJ's!


Google Sites - The Perfect Portfolio Venue

Session Description
No matter what your portfolio need, the Google Site has something to offer. Schools have struggled with portfolio issues such as storage, presentation, customization, access, and transfer of ownership. Not only does Google Sites offer a solution to those ongoing considerations, it is easy, fun and allows the user to gain many 21st Century Skills in the process! If schools have deployed Google Apps for Edu - "sites" can be used for comprehensive portfolio, competency portfolio, project portfolio and more!

Audience
  • Suggested audience: Students, university and lifelong learners, Educators, primary and secondary, Educators, university
    and continuing education, IT leads, School and district leaders, People who support educators , People who support students
  • Prior experience or knowledge: Beginner (very new to this topic), Intermediate (have some familiarity), Advanced (I am an expert in this topic, but always up for more learning)
Logistics
  • Time: 12:00 pm Eastern
  • Session hashtag: #portfoliosites
  • Conference hashtag: #pdinpjs
Presenter
Name: Allison Mollica
Position: Instructional Technology Leader
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Haiku LMS - A Great Partner for GAFE


Our school piloted Haiku Learning Management System last year and every teacher who used it was immediately impressed and able to easily create an online classroom using it.  Using Google Apps for Education, Haiku is an easy add-on from the marketplace.  It has a great sync tool with GAFE so there is no user management other than teachers adding students to their classes.  The best part is that teacher can create their own classes - they don't depend on an admin to do it.  It is one of the most user friendly products I have ever used in K12 education.  The company is by far the nicest, most helpful, friendliest, responsive, honest people I have ever worked with as well.  
What is Haiku?


Start with a visit to the Haiku Site - http://www.haikulearning.com/
  • Click on the What is Haiku video in the top right hand corner.
  • Check out the Homework Annotator Annotating Homework online has never been easier -
    GREAT for MATH & SCIENCE!
Here are some other excellent resources to learn more about Haiku LMS.