Well, being sick sure did take a lot from me. I was unplugged from Twitter for quite a while. I guess you know you are sick when you are to tired and just don't feel like reading and updating Twitter! I jumped right back in tonight though, and participated in my first #edchat. It was a great experience discussing teacher evaluation and how teachers assess their own classroom and teaching. The usual responses were mentioned, but then there were also some others. Most teachers will tell you that portfolio's, scheduled walk-through's, and student surveys do little to help teachers learn about themselves. Most of the time, its ineffectiveness is not because of the process, it is because of the user.
We always had a saying when I worked in retail and a customer would bring in a computer with problems that we could not solve...."I guess it must be user error." Same thing for teacher assessment. If you don't use the tools correctly, then it must be user error. If you don't take information you learn about yourself to improve what you are doing, the only person to blame is the user. Think about it.
One option is Peer Observation, but how do you monitor it? How do you ensure that teachers really are observing each other? You could probably require a form, but does that really ensure that learning and assessing was going on? Probably not. One suggestion I had was to have teachers on planning go with a principal when they complete a walk-through. This would ensure that peer observations are going on and when post observation meetings happen, that teacher could also participate. Maybe even participate in the pre-observation meeting.
I am not teaching now, but keeping a blog has been a great form of reflection for me in this new job. I take much of what I find and reflect on how it could be used in the classroom. I then share that with teachers. I know that keeping a reflection blog would receive quite a response, but if you could trade that for keeping a big binder portfolio would you? Most of the time, a portfolio completed by teachers has the necessary parts required by the administration/district thrown in there, and often times, nothing new is put in, even though you have new students. There is also very little reflection.
Another topic within the #edchat was assessing Administrators. Most of their assessment comes from test scores, attendance, teacher retention, etc. But who assesses them on things like communication, organization, leadership, etc.? Should teachers have a say in such evaluations? A lot of that comes down to respect. Would an administrator respect the opinion of a teacher fresh out of college? If you create such a system, who is in charge of seeing suggestions implemented? Teachers always have to show evidence, would administrators have the same requirements; to show evidence? Just throwing this out there.
So, on top of all the other reasons why I have created a Twitter account and started Tweeting, I discovered that #edchat in itself is a whole reason in its own. Through #edchat, I also discovered many other educators that I added to my PLN. So if you have a free Tuesday night, 7 EST time, or 12 EST, you can join in the fun by searching for #edchat and then following the conversation, and when you are comfortable, join the conversation. Just following the conversation will open a ton of doors, so don't feel like you have to immediately join the conversation. Get a feel for it first.
I am sure that there was a lot more to the #edchat conversation from tonight, but these were the conversations that I took part in and wanted to highlight.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Must See Monday #6 - Ahead - Playground for Creative Minds
As most of my readers know, I am a big fan of Prezi. I recently wrote a post about other ways to complete lecture other than Power Point. Upon completing that post, I discovered another option; Ahead presentation software. It was also suggested in a comment on my Blog. So I thought it was only appropriate to discuss it today.
Ahead is very similar to Prezi. It has a 3D canvas for creating your presentation. It allows you to zoom in and out on aspects of your presentation. What I like about it compared to Prezi is that you get more options for creating your presentation, especially when it comes to fonts and text. It bodes itself as "No Coding, No Boundaries."
Ahead is for people with more tech savvy backgrounds, but for those that are not, I highly suggest that you visit the tutorial for help creating your presentation. Another benefit is that it gives you the option of 25 prearranged slides if you have a fear of an infinite open space to work on...might be useful for those wanting less freedom.
When creating your presentation, you create scenes, which can be put in order within your presentation. That is how the software knows where to go in your presentation. You can upload any file to the presentation, video, audio, picture, PDF, etc, however, it does take some time to upload the file, so you might want to upload any files to the presentation to start with, so they are ready when you need them.
It definitely takes some getting used too, but it is definitely worth looking at to help change up your normal lectures. You could easily copy and paste from your old Power Point Presentations as well. My suggestion, is just visit the site and play around for a while and see how you might use it....that is what i did. When you visit the homepage, click on the arrows in the bottom of the right of your screen and go through to learn about Ahead. Here is a screen shot of the homepage.
You can follow the company on Twitter. I am, so that I can make recommendations for education use and licensing. You should follow them too and make the same suggestions!
Ahead is very similar to Prezi. It has a 3D canvas for creating your presentation. It allows you to zoom in and out on aspects of your presentation. What I like about it compared to Prezi is that you get more options for creating your presentation, especially when it comes to fonts and text. It bodes itself as "No Coding, No Boundaries."
Ahead is for people with more tech savvy backgrounds, but for those that are not, I highly suggest that you visit the tutorial for help creating your presentation. Another benefit is that it gives you the option of 25 prearranged slides if you have a fear of an infinite open space to work on...might be useful for those wanting less freedom.
When creating your presentation, you create scenes, which can be put in order within your presentation. That is how the software knows where to go in your presentation. You can upload any file to the presentation, video, audio, picture, PDF, etc, however, it does take some time to upload the file, so you might want to upload any files to the presentation to start with, so they are ready when you need them.
It definitely takes some getting used too, but it is definitely worth looking at to help change up your normal lectures. You could easily copy and paste from your old Power Point Presentations as well. My suggestion, is just visit the site and play around for a while and see how you might use it....that is what i did. When you visit the homepage, click on the arrows in the bottom of the right of your screen and go through to learn about Ahead. Here is a screen shot of the homepage.
You can follow the company on Twitter. I am, so that I can make recommendations for education use and licensing. You should follow them too and make the same suggestions!
Friday, February 12, 2010
100th Post - The Growth of my PLN
Around 3 months ago I started this blog with different ideas for where I wanted it to go, and who I was hoping to reach with it. For my 100th post, I want to focus on my PLN; the people who follow this blog, follow me on Twitter, and that I follow on Twitter. The whole blogging experience has been probably the most influential of any professional development that I have had while teaching. Partly because of what I have learned and found, but mostly because I have been able to share that information with others and hear of their personal experiences and then share them.
So what is a PLN? Well, it could mean Professional Learning Network, or even Personal Learning Network. That is the literal meaning of the acronym, but what does it really mean? Imagine for a minute teaching in a school where some of the most influential educators all teach. Imagine teaching in a school where the administrators encourage new and innovative ways to teach to your students. Imagine teaching in a school where all those teachers share their ideas and lessons openly without fear of being seen as "that teacher." That is the experience of a PLN. Sharing ideas and experiences with people who enjoy what you have to share and openly share their personal experiences.
Most of my PLN started via a few Social Networks that I follow. The first one that I joined was Classroom 2.0. Very helpful in allowing me to share my blog as well as get feedback for future ideas. I also met some people in the same career path as me, as well as some teacher education students who were enthusiastic about learning from other educators. Another social network that I discovered was the Educator's PLN. This was another website that allowed me to meet other educators who were experiencing the same change in education that I was experiencing, and many of these same members I follow on Twitter.
Then of course there is Twitter. This is truly where the growth of my PLN started to grow. I went from a few followers and following a few people to following over 100 (which I hope to increase soon), and being followed by over 200 in a matter of a month. The problem with Twitter is its perception through out the education world. Yes, it originally and is still perceived as a Social Network. But for educators...it is a Professional Network. It is where I discover new ideas. It is where I experience new thoughts. It is where I find people who share many of the same educational values and beliefs that I do, and we discuss those without fear of egos, retribution, or fear itself. From my original post about Twitter, you can tell that I am passionate about its use as an educational tool. So let this be another opportunity for me to suggest joining Twitter and learning more about your PLN. To give you another example, Dodie Ainslie Tweeted for suggestions for what to include in a professional development about using Twitter. I replied with ideas and from that, I had about 10 new teachers to Twitter begin to follow me....thus starting the creation of their own PLN.
Another opportunity came through Kelly Tenkely and the creation of a Blogging Alliance. You can read more about the Blogging Alliance and see how to add the blogs to your Reader Account on her blog here. By visiting the blog, you can click on a link to subscribe to the bundle of educational blogs. This type of Alliance created a whole other type of a professional network for me to get to know and follow. I highly recommend that you check out and follow our Alliance.
So, my questions for you are....what is keeping you from creating your own PLN? Will you break away from the trend of most teachers and branch out from what is comfortable in your classroom and school and start a PLN?
Remember the following quote:
"CHANGE IS LIKE THE SUN, YOU EITHER CHANGE BECAUSE YOU FEEL THE HEAT, OR BECAUSE IT CAUSES YOU TO OPEN YOUR EYES." Not my own, saw in a book, drawing a blank on the author's name.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Think Twice Thursday #5 - Oh Come On...Not Another Power Point?!?!
Now, let me start off by saying that I am probably one of the most guilty users of Power Point in my classroom. I created and have a Power Point for every unit that I teach. I can only imagine how boring it was for my students after the 2nd unit to see me start up my computer and projector to begin another section of lecture using Power Point.
Power Point is a very useful tool. It is a very easy way to present information. It is a very easy way to organize information for students. It is very easy to add pictures and video. It is also very easy to use wrong and use slides the wrong way. It is also very redundant, and thus, very boring. Students are tired of Power Point. Most of them will tell you they have done more Power Point than any other kind of projects. How many Power Point Presentations have you created???
Five years ago...heck, two years ago, Power Point was THE method of using technology in the classroom for many teachers. Because of Web 2.0, teachers have more options for presenting content to their students. So with this post, I make a suggestion. Think Twice about using Power Point for your next lecture presentation. Instead, use some of the other tools out there.
Digtial Story Telling - Use sites like PhotoPeach (which you can turn your presentation into Quizzes) or Animoto. Tell your lecture through pictures. You can also download Photostory 3 from Microsoft. Another option is Voicethread and make the lecture more interactive. Storybird would be another option, and your students could add to the lecture
Glogster - Make a lecture into a Glog. You can easily link to outside websites that enhance your lecture and then return back to the Glog. Embed videos and audio clips for your students to watch and listen to while you take a break from the lecture. A great change of pace to Power Point, with some of the same features.
Prezi - Take that linear Power Point Presentation, and put it on a 3D canvas. Upload videos, pictures, and PDF's. Zoom in and focus on a certain aspect of your presentation. Students who have not seen Prezi, will probably be more attentive in class that day seeing you use a new presentation tool.
Comic Strips and Cartoons - Yes...Comic Strips and Cartoons. Make your lecture into comic books. Make it entertaining for your students. Imagine the reaction students would have that day if you had a cartoon for their lecture that day. You can visit my previous post for information on Comic Strip and Cartoon websites.
Virsona - Create lecture from the perspective from someone in history in the form of a chat. Let your students ask the questions to lead the lecture. You can see my blog post about it here. Or for entertainment purposes, you could use a site like Blabberize, and record the lecture ahead of time.
Timeline - There are plenty of Timeline Applications on the web. You can visit my blog post about them here. Take your lecture to a new level and present it in a timeline, giving your students chronological order within the lecture, helping students with their organization.
Again, don't get me wrong, Power Point is great...but it is time that we rethink or Think Twice about how we use it in our classrooms.
Power Point is a very useful tool. It is a very easy way to present information. It is a very easy way to organize information for students. It is very easy to add pictures and video. It is also very easy to use wrong and use slides the wrong way. It is also very redundant, and thus, very boring. Students are tired of Power Point. Most of them will tell you they have done more Power Point than any other kind of projects. How many Power Point Presentations have you created???
Five years ago...heck, two years ago, Power Point was THE method of using technology in the classroom for many teachers. Because of Web 2.0, teachers have more options for presenting content to their students. So with this post, I make a suggestion. Think Twice about using Power Point for your next lecture presentation. Instead, use some of the other tools out there.
Digtial Story Telling - Use sites like PhotoPeach (which you can turn your presentation into Quizzes) or Animoto. Tell your lecture through pictures. You can also download Photostory 3 from Microsoft. Another option is Voicethread and make the lecture more interactive. Storybird would be another option, and your students could add to the lecture
Glogster - Make a lecture into a Glog. You can easily link to outside websites that enhance your lecture and then return back to the Glog. Embed videos and audio clips for your students to watch and listen to while you take a break from the lecture. A great change of pace to Power Point, with some of the same features.
Prezi - Take that linear Power Point Presentation, and put it on a 3D canvas. Upload videos, pictures, and PDF's. Zoom in and focus on a certain aspect of your presentation. Students who have not seen Prezi, will probably be more attentive in class that day seeing you use a new presentation tool.
Comic Strips and Cartoons - Yes...Comic Strips and Cartoons. Make your lecture into comic books. Make it entertaining for your students. Imagine the reaction students would have that day if you had a cartoon for their lecture that day. You can visit my previous post for information on Comic Strip and Cartoon websites.
Virsona - Create lecture from the perspective from someone in history in the form of a chat. Let your students ask the questions to lead the lecture. You can see my blog post about it here. Or for entertainment purposes, you could use a site like Blabberize, and record the lecture ahead of time.
Timeline - There are plenty of Timeline Applications on the web. You can visit my blog post about them here. Take your lecture to a new level and present it in a timeline, giving your students chronological order within the lecture, helping students with their organization.
Again, don't get me wrong, Power Point is great...but it is time that we rethink or Think Twice about how we use it in our classrooms.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Twitter Tuseday #5 - Twitter Apps
With the rise in Twitter there are plenty of viable options for Twitter Desktop Applications, iPhone Applications, and other Smartphone Applications. I will first examine the Desktop Twitter Applications. I also am a PC guy (currently) so these will all be Windows based programs. There are more than these, but these are the ones that I found the most information about. They are in no particular order.
Tweetdeck - This is the desktop app that I use. What I like is the user interface. It is also compatible with your Facebook. I don't really use it for that. It will automatically shorten URL's in your tweets as well. You can view replies, Direct Messages, etc. in its own column keeping you connected with Twitter while working on other things. It minimizes to your toolbar as well and displays a "tweet" window when you receive any new tweets. You can also get the application on your iPhone.
Hootsuite - Advertises itself as a more "professional" Twitter Client. You can get your LinkedIn, Facebook, and Ping accounts via the desktop software. You can schedule tweets and organize into Columns and Tabs. You can track statistics and even retrieve embed codes so that you can add search columns to your website. You can also get the application on your iPhone.
Seesmic - Like the others you can organize our tweets and Facebook feeds into columns. You can also incorporate your saved searches and Twitter List. Nothing really different from the others. I did notice that it seems to be the one application that has a Twitter client for every model of SmartPhone..except the iPhone.
Skimmer - Same features. Main difference is that it can be linked to Blogger, Flickr, and Youtube, as well as Facebook. Basically, it keeps you from checking the websites that you probably visit everyday. Other than that, there is not much difference than the others. By visiting the site you can view some screenshots of the application.
Digsby - Includes IM and Email inclusion as well as linking to Facebook and Twitter. It creates a toolbar at the bottom of your screen with access to the accounts that you grant it too. You can visit the website for screenshots and a demo video to help further explain some of the many features.
iPhone Apps
I own an iPhone. Just got it, so upon joining Twitter, I immediately starting looking for a good Twitter App. I currently use Twitbird. I suggest that you just search "Twitter" from the App Store and read the reviews and features to determine which is best for you. There are MANY, MANY others, but I will look at some of the more popular ones here:
Twitbird (comes in three versions: Free, Pro, Premium). Each one offers different features. The free version will come with some advertisements in your tweets. Worth paying under $3.00 just to not have to see them! I like the Push Notification Feature (cost a little extra) but it will alert you of replies and direct messages. You can also create an Instapaper account to save links. Very user friendly. You can visit the software creator's site here.
Tweetie 2 - Brand new recently updated. Does not offer Push Notifications according to the description I read, but will probably be in a future update. Has a lot of features, probably more than I need.
Twitterific Premium - Can also be downloaded as a desktop application for Macs. I originally used this one before changing over to Twitbird. It has a lot of great features as well. No Push Notifications, and from what I have read, not many differences between the paid and free version. I liked the dark theme and the many different colors of the Tweets.
SimplyTweet - You can view the developers website here. SimplyTweet has a lot of the similar features. Has Push Notifications as well as many different themes. You can also view it in landscape and portrait mode. Something the other Apps allow as well.
EchoFon Pro - Formerly known as Twitterfon, and you can visit the developers website here. Supports Push Notifications. Can be used for free SMS according to the website. Also is available as a desktop App for Macs. Like the others, you can also setup multiple Twitter accounts.
Twittelator Pro - You can visit the developers website here. It advertises the ability to create your own theme. Includes many dingbats, or emoticons to enhance your Tweets. Advertises over 200 features, but one of those is NOT Push Notifications...if it had that, this would probably be the most complete App for Twitter.
BlackBerry Twitter Apps Information
- Free BlackBerry Twitter Apps Roundup
- Seesmic for Blackberry
- Article over official RIM Twitter App
Droid and Nexus One Twitter Apps
- Twidroid
- Top Three Twitter Clients
- TweetCaster
- Seesmic
Tweetdeck - This is the desktop app that I use. What I like is the user interface. It is also compatible with your Facebook. I don't really use it for that. It will automatically shorten URL's in your tweets as well. You can view replies, Direct Messages, etc. in its own column keeping you connected with Twitter while working on other things. It minimizes to your toolbar as well and displays a "tweet" window when you receive any new tweets. You can also get the application on your iPhone.
Hootsuite - Advertises itself as a more "professional" Twitter Client. You can get your LinkedIn, Facebook, and Ping accounts via the desktop software. You can schedule tweets and organize into Columns and Tabs. You can track statistics and even retrieve embed codes so that you can add search columns to your website. You can also get the application on your iPhone.
Seesmic - Like the others you can organize our tweets and Facebook feeds into columns. You can also incorporate your saved searches and Twitter List. Nothing really different from the others. I did notice that it seems to be the one application that has a Twitter client for every model of SmartPhone..except the iPhone.
Skimmer - Same features. Main difference is that it can be linked to Blogger, Flickr, and Youtube, as well as Facebook. Basically, it keeps you from checking the websites that you probably visit everyday. Other than that, there is not much difference than the others. By visiting the site you can view some screenshots of the application.
Digsby - Includes IM and Email inclusion as well as linking to Facebook and Twitter. It creates a toolbar at the bottom of your screen with access to the accounts that you grant it too. You can visit the website for screenshots and a demo video to help further explain some of the many features.
iPhone Apps
I own an iPhone. Just got it, so upon joining Twitter, I immediately starting looking for a good Twitter App. I currently use Twitbird. I suggest that you just search "Twitter" from the App Store and read the reviews and features to determine which is best for you. There are MANY, MANY others, but I will look at some of the more popular ones here:
Twitbird (comes in three versions: Free, Pro, Premium). Each one offers different features. The free version will come with some advertisements in your tweets. Worth paying under $3.00 just to not have to see them! I like the Push Notification Feature (cost a little extra) but it will alert you of replies and direct messages. You can also create an Instapaper account to save links. Very user friendly. You can visit the software creator's site here.
Tweetie 2 - Brand new recently updated. Does not offer Push Notifications according to the description I read, but will probably be in a future update. Has a lot of features, probably more than I need.
Twitterific Premium - Can also be downloaded as a desktop application for Macs. I originally used this one before changing over to Twitbird. It has a lot of great features as well. No Push Notifications, and from what I have read, not many differences between the paid and free version. I liked the dark theme and the many different colors of the Tweets.
SimplyTweet - You can view the developers website here. SimplyTweet has a lot of the similar features. Has Push Notifications as well as many different themes. You can also view it in landscape and portrait mode. Something the other Apps allow as well.
EchoFon Pro - Formerly known as Twitterfon, and you can visit the developers website here. Supports Push Notifications. Can be used for free SMS according to the website. Also is available as a desktop App for Macs. Like the others, you can also setup multiple Twitter accounts.
Twittelator Pro - You can visit the developers website here. It advertises the ability to create your own theme. Includes many dingbats, or emoticons to enhance your Tweets. Advertises over 200 features, but one of those is NOT Push Notifications...if it had that, this would probably be the most complete App for Twitter.
BlackBerry Twitter Apps Information
- Free BlackBerry Twitter Apps Roundup
- Seesmic for Blackberry
- Article over official RIM Twitter App
Droid and Nexus One Twitter Apps
- Twidroid
- Top Three Twitter Clients
- TweetCaster
- Seesmic
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