Opportunity Comes Knocking

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Thank you fellow educators. After 25 years of Professional Development I am certainly not the same professional that walked out of Teachers College in 1987. And I should hope not. After all, there have been many changes in our profession: curriculum, teaching tools, historical events, ethical decisions, medical knowledge, and equity rights to name a few. How does one keep up? They take PD. Mostly from other teachers. As I tried to reflect back on all the 'extra' information I've accumulated, 'taken' or shared it makes me wonder about other professions. How much access do they have? Is it mandatory? Do they pay for it themselves? Does this really keep us 'in the loop'? I do know that this opportunity should not be missed.

Here's a few of the PD opportunities I have been fortunate enough to take part in. Some as participant, others as a leader.

School Level - BIPSA (Board Improvement Planning), SIPSA (School Improvement Planning), CILM (Collaborative Learning and Inquiry in Mathematics), Grade Group Planning, many years of Staff Meeting PD sessions on various topics

Board Level - CATC (Computers Across the Curriculum) Camp (where btw I learned to code in 2001) PD Place as presenter in the areas of GAFE, Dual Platform, iPads, Digital Citizenship, Google Docs, Google Websites, Learning Carousels, various CATC connection activities

ETFO - Summer Academy courses, ICT Conferences, Presenters Palette, many Equity initiatives both locally and provincially

Provincial - OTF Webinars as Presenter and participant, ECOO/BIT, as both participant and presenter many years (I learned a lot here!)

Personal - AQ Special Education Specialist, Integration of Information and Computer Technology in Instruction Part 1 and 2, Personal Learning Networks through Twitter, professional readings through Zite, magazines, blogs

Incidental Learning - some of the best conversations which were never planned, at doorways and hallways, in lounge chairs and lunch tables at conferences, on long drives and short walks

All in all, I think the mix of formal and informal is important. Very little is done alone. It can be, but the chance to debrief, question, reflect and follow-up is so important. As I look forward to a few more years of teaching I am happy with the amount of PD I pursued and the amount that came and found me. Sometimes I didn't want it all but I know that it's so important to have the opportunity. So once again, thank you.

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Two Hats

Actually I have about 10 hats. And just as many voices. I have two places online that I use two of those voices. My classroom website and my professional blog. I have not combined these two for several reasons. The first goes back to when websites and blogs were originally introduced. A website was considered to be a one way portal of information and a blog was a chance for a two-way (or more) conversation. As such the website has continued to be a place for resources of information in the form of links and topic specific pages. It is also a showcase for completed student work. It shares out facts, opinions and accomplishments but does not presume to have responses. While some websites offer built in news feeds or comment sections, primarily I treat class websites as a place to go for information. My target audience is primarily my students and their families. That's also the reason I have never shared it in this blog. You are not the audience for it. There are other more technical differences between the two. I take many liberties with font and formatting on my website! I use the homepage as a place for current links or tasks for my students and when a new one is posted it gets large font and centre of the page location. I don't want anyone to miss it! I also add in as much visual prompting as I can. It can change quite frequently. I like to change up the themes of the website once in a while too. Perhaps to match a unit or make reference to a world event. After a few weeks I usually transfer any home page links to a secondary page for reference. On a blog, archiving takes care of that organization and I rarely change the theme or layout.
Finally the biggest difference for me is the audience I picture as I write. I see all my student's faces as I add items to the website and I try to use my teacher voice (be clear, concise and fair). For the professional blog, I picture my online course mates, instructor, and colleagues. My voice says to be scholarly, opinionated, challenging, and try very hard not to make any spelling mistakes!

Good Quotes

I confess, I skim through most professional readings.  I don't like a whole lot of jargon or too many stats.  This one however, caught my attention and I read every word. It is straight-forward, easy to digest, and most importantly says what needs to be said.  I only hope that the decision making people in education have seen it too! Here are but a few of the great passages from this article.  I have only selected the words that can be applied to all PD.  The foundation of the article about Historical Thinking is also fascinating and so true.  I see parallels to many Social Studies units throughout the grades.  (My thoughts are in italics.)

Historical Thinking and Teacher Professional Development: The Poor Cousin of Curriculum Reform By Carla Peck

Although many provinces and territories invest a great deal of resources in developing new curricula, in many cases much less is spent on providing professional learning so that teachers are able to transform their teaching to meet the new requirements of the curricula. This is a fundamental flaw in curriculum reform and needs to be addressed. What is the point of investing all of that time, energy and money into creating innovative curricula if teachers are never provided with opportunities to learn how to unlock the potential of the new curricula?   (So many professional resources, so little professional development.)
One-off professional development opportunities are not enough. While one day sessions may spark a teacher’s interest, what is needed is long term, sustained professional learning (For every workshop I've run or been a part of, I always wish there were two or three follow-up sessions with the same group of people.)
research suggests that beginning teachers require more professional development than their more experienced peers (Absolutely! I've met many new young teachers who graduated during the limbo years of teacher's college. They can use technology personally, but they haven't had the modelling or instruction on how to use it as a teaching tool.)

I hope these quotes entice you to read the entire article! 

The Forest and the Trees

The world of technology is just that... a world.  You can't put your finger on just one thing and say 'that's technology'. For me the idea of technology is the forest and the products are the trees. Whenever I talk with someone who says they are 'new to technology' I know they have never really thought about it using a 'big picture' frame.  So how can I help them bring this vast change to their classroom?

I have them examine what is involved in a teaching program.  There are 3 basic parts: course content, the instructor, and the students.  Next you apply technology tools and pedagogy to these areas as you become comfortable with them.  Here are a few ideas.

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1) Course content

- consider audio visual online lessons to present or reinforce content material. For example, Math Live from LearnAlberta.ca .  This easy to use site explores many Grade 5 math concepts. It is interactive and scaffolded.  For students with reading challenges this program has mostly oral instructions and visual examples. It can be shown in a classroom or given as an assignment via a web link to be viewed at home. 

- consider using online news sources for content  For example, CBC Player has many Digital Archives.  For a Grade 6 lesson on biographies try using the Terry Fox archive footage showing the start of his Marathon. This is also a great Media Literacy lesson for many grades.  Examining the quality of the footage, the newscasters, the interview techniques and even the entire CBC site leads to good discussion.  Students with reading or writing challenges will be able to engage fully in conversations after viewing real life footage.  It is also very helpful for new Canadians to 'see' historical Canadian events that many of us take for granted as knowing about.

2) The Instructor

- consider having a teacher or classroom website. Our board has set up Wordpress sites for every teacher. They can be accessed through the school website or many teachers have students write the site into student agendas early in the year.  It can be used many ways. As a resource, as a place of shared projects, as a calendar, or as an extension of classroom initiatives.  For students that require review of concepts, or have attention needs, a website allows for anytime, anywhere learning.  The following example is a Grade 3/4 site from our board.

- look around your classroom.  Do you have a projector?  An audio enhancement system? A Document camera? A Smartboard?  Desktop computers? Chromebooks? iPads? Tablets? Can you 'sign' out these items?  Have you checked with your administrator for access to one or all of these tools?  For the visually impaired student most of these items make the content accessible.  Not only is the content you are sharing visibly enhanced but students always know where to look as well. In the above photo this teacher is showing a section of a book and reading aloud to students who can follow along. Her modelling is seen by all students when it is shown on a screen.
You don't need all of these devices, but the more that you use the more your students will use devices as well.

3) The Students

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- consider using personal devices For example, students bring in their own devices and participate in Poll questions.  Poll Everywhere allows teachers to create a multiple choice or open-ended poll question. (This is a terrific introduction to a graphing unit in the Primary or Junior grades.) Then, students can text their answers and watch the poll populate on the screen. Students that are self-conscious about their speech or are reluctant to speak in large crowds now have a voice and can participate fully.

These have been just a few ideas for infusing your classroom with technology. Some of the tasks are just branches on a bigger tree. Some are simple, some are complex. In the end, I like searching through the woods, looking for that unique tree that will capture a lesson or a student's imagination.  I hope you have a good walk.

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U Design Lessons (for) Them! UDLT

Here's what I think Universal Design Learning Theories are!

Teacher meets student.
Teacher observes and evaluates student strengths, weaknesses, and styles of learning.
Teacher designs lessons, activities etc. that give each student an equal chance to learn.
Student smiles.

There were lots of graphics and charts to choose from when I searched up this Theory. Here's my favourite....because it put the 'Why' first.

No doubt about it, this thinking about learning is a must in every classroom. I feel like this idea has been around for decades. The first time I heard the words 'Universal Design' was when they started making cut-outs in sidewalk curbs back in the 70's. It changed so much for the person in a wheelchair or those who had difficulty walking. We should always look for ways to make life easier, especially teachers!

Dysgraphia- A Common Hurdle!

I'm left-handed.  Which means when I was younger in elementary school I struggled to follow the 'handwriting' lessons.

 It all seemed to be going the wrong way!  It was frustrating to smear the ink, or lead from the pencil.  It was painstakingly slow for me to copy, create or even fill in the tiny blanks.  Oh what I would have given for some technology then!  I don't consider myself as having a Learning Disability because of my handedness, but I have seen a wide variety of students struggle with the writing process...mostly boys, but perhaps that is another topic for another post. As I look around my class now I see at least 5 students (about 20%) who would qualify as having Dysgraphia. They have difficulty with; neatness and consistency of writing, accurately copying letters and words, spelling consistency, and organization and coherence. This is a broad definition because dysgraphia takes many forms. (Dyslexic, Motor, Spatial, Phonological, and Lexical) So what do I do for them? Not enough...because there is an emotional component that is very hard to address with students. Their self-esteem takes a beating every time they are asked to produce pencil and paper work. However I make use of as much technology as I can and I let them see that I am not the neatest printer or writer in the world and that's ok. 

Here's what I use when they just have to produce written work.

Word Processors - netbooks, chrome books, desktop computers, AlphaSmarts

Digital Recorders - iPads, phones, iPods

Spell Checkers - online dictionaries, teach how to use spell check in applications such as Pages, Docs, Word etc.

Speech to Text Software - Dragon, Read & Write, Audio Note, Quick Voice

Word Completion and Word Prediction - teach how to use in applications as noted above

Grammar Check and Proof Reading - applications and editing partners

I meet more and more people that argue that 'handwriting' is a dying art. Technology is replacing the need to learn cursive writing.  I like to think of it as an art form with a history and a purpose.  Before the Grade 5 curriculum change I used to make it part of the Ancient Civilizations unit. I still teach my students how to do each letter  and most importantly how to read it. 

What do you think?  Is handwriting a necessary skill?  What about printing? Should we insist on a certain amount of it from each student?