Jazz Up Your Website

If you're looking to "jazz" up your classroom website, here are some ideas presented at an after-school session.

Peruse below or CLICK HERE for a link to get your own copy of my session resource sheet.

Ask for help if you need it -- I'm glad to help.

 

1:1 Preparation: No Time Like the Present

What was Carol Sgambellone feeling so triumphant about last week?   







And Jake Hendershot and Parker Koch -- you two were looking very confident!







No doubt it was because they had just succeeded in getting their first Google Sites up and running. Why now? Well, the school year has truly gotten itself into gear, so it's time to start preparing for next year's 1:1 push out. What better way to start than by creating an online space for materials that students can access 24/7?

The three amigos above, and many other teachers including the entire 7th grade team -- who have collaborated on a fabulous team website --, are getting an early start on creating a great 1:1 environment -- and it's only September! (watch for a guest blog by this fun team in November!).

Back row: Ara Fee, Nikki Thompson, Ryan Fitz; Front row: Connie Mick, Traci Lausberg, Mary Stafford, Debbie Fehrman.

Now, since the school year is well under way,
it's time for some organized, school-wide 1:1 prep...

Based on Waiver Day department comments and ongoing conversations with teachers, here are your requests (mostly in your own words) for 1:1 training/development... and a plan for solutions to start us off:

The goal is to provide everyone with a variety of ways to learn and practice: just as our students need differentiation, so do we:

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Your request:  Training in small sessions on Google docs, sites & forms; access to help according to our needs and with designated topics.

Solution: Monday Google Sessions

To help accommodate busy schedules, Google training sessions will be held twice a month with the same info repeated the second session. This starts on October 7.  See a tentative list of dates and topics here. The idea with these is to make them as self-paced as possible so no one feels their time is wasted and so learners can return to the training at their convenience. 

Google training sessions will start at 2:30: The "presenting" part won't be designed to take more than a few minutes, and then teachers will have sandbox time for independent or small group practice.  You can be in and out in half an hour or so OR stay later to practice or get more help. If you are already experienced in the topic for that month, I hope you'll come anyway to be an extra set of helping hands and to give a rah-rah!  to anyone who needs it. 

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Your request:  Regularly planned connections to technology (after school); a time and place to share our expertise with each other.
Solution 1:  Open Doors

I have heard from a lot of you that you would find benefit in knowing what other teachers are doing and would like to share with them in return. 

One example:  Jeff Wills approached Scott and me about opening his doors to anyone who wants to observe him in his 1:1 environment.  You can see how he manages students and find out how he organizes himself and deals with "bad technology" days.  Just see him for a time/day. 

(Who else wants to put yourself on the list of open doors?  let me know)


Solution 2:  Professional Idea Exchanges (P.I.E.)

P.I.E. is an informal, teacher- driven share session.  Know of a good online quizzing system?  Have ideas for managing a class in a 1:1 setting?  have you found online source for digital projects?  Are you using Edmodo or another information platform you love?  Do you use Twitter? Want to talk about screencasting?

Simply demonstrate/ show examples/ enthuse for a bit about something we can all use this year or next. The Idea Exchanges can also be used to check out what we've just heard about, talk tech, share other resources, ask questions, solve problems, etc.

Since P.I.E. is teacher driven, teachers will need to volunteer themselves to take turns/"sign up" to take a session; however, because P.I.E. is an informal gathering, there is no need for a lot of preparation.  It's meant to be a no-stresser. 

  P.I.E. = colleagiality and informality.

These gatherings can be held bi-weekly or monthly after school for half an hour or so.  (I'll organize the sign up for this -- I'd love some suggestions as to frequency and days)

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Your request:  Time during the day to practice (not after school)

One Solution:  Department & Team Meetings

Although completing other curricular work is a primary use of Department Meetings, some of the assigned time can also be set aside for creating 1:1 materials and planning, as well as for observing at the high school. See Scott to request/plan this. 

I would also love to work with a department tech leader (see below) to find resources and ideas that can be shared with the department and practiced during department meeting days. 

Weekly team meetings, of course, are another place to practice, share, and get assistance.  Please let me know how I can help.

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Your request:  Create "team tech leaders" for help during team meetings.

Solution:  Who are the people in your team/ department who have a bit of a handle on the tech thing?  Please talk it out and choose someone at the team and department levels to be part of a LVMS Tech Leader Team.  I'd ask that person to please stop by and let me know it's you or to email me before Friday, October 4. 

This person can serve as a conduit for information as the 1:1 gets closer, help out during training sessions, and inspire. I will also work with this leader to brainstorm some tools/ sites, etc. specific to your grade or subject area.  

Teams can work on 1:1 tasks/ tools during team meeting and department meeting times with a focus provided by the Tech Leader. 

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Your request:  Individual help for those new to using technology

Solution:   I want everyone to know my "red" door is always open and my walking boots are close by. I am eager to work one-to-one and in small groups with teachers. Please feel free to set up a time to meet with me -- once in a while or regularly -- to work on Google apps or other technology applications. Maybe you just want someone close by as you build a website in case you get stuck.  Perhaps you're looking to solve a particular classroom problem and wondering if a tech tool could provide the answer. Let's talk!

I'd also enjoy working with your classes. Have a project in mind that incorporates technology for learning? Maybe you can bring your class into the computer lab and I can co-teach with you or be a presence/ question answerer/ helper. We all know scheduling computer lab time can be hit or miss this year, but keep looking forward to next year -- you may not be able to take the learning goal all the way this year, but it's still a great time to experiment or do mini-versions of longer projects you'd like to teach next year.

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Hopefully these solutions will get us all started in the right direction in preparing for the 1:1.  As we get closer to 1:1 lift off, some more elements will be added.  What else can we do? Please stop by or email me and pass along your ideas & thoughts to flesh out our 1:1 planning.

Here were our website builders during the process: 

 

Carol, Parker, and Jake didn't have their websites built in the first ten minutes they sat down.  But they did have a vision and a purpose. And when any of their first steps got them in a ditch, they just helped each other out of that ditch... and kept moving forward, together.

While no one will force you to come to training sessions or P.I.E. gatherings, it's still crucial that we all take individual responsibility for developing skills that will help make the 1:1 initiative a success. From what I've witnessed so far, the LVMS staff support each other and are impressive collaborators. I know we are READY to make this happen... and there's no time like the present. 

Four Bright, Shining Faces

In the last blog, I mentioned bright smiling faces… I can’t resist writing one more post about a Waiver Day because there were 3 particularly bright faces – and one particularly hairy one -- who shared some of their expertise on the second Waiver Day.  Here's a shout out -- and some resources for when you're ready to try out any of their ideas.

Who wouldn't love these faces?!

Kristen Dennis:  I couldn’t resist posting a picture of some of the extensive wiring in her classroom.   But if you've been in her classroom, you know the abundance of electricity in her room doesn't just come from her use of technology.  

 Kristin shared with everyone a classroom website she utilized at the elementary school (she’s currently building the MS version).  She uses a free website builder called WIX. Her website can be found HERE.  And – if she didn’t show you on Waiver Day, there’s a video of Kristin on stilts and juggling as she talks to her students about the “art” of life.  It’s on the TEACHERS tab on the website (scroll down to the video and she’s about 20 seconds in).  If you’re interested in viewing some other teacher Wix sites for inspiration and ideas for your own website (whether it’s a google site, Wix, Weebly, or other), you really have to check out this web site with sample teacher Wix sites and tutorial videos… a great resource.

Justin Fickes   I emailed Justin to see if he minded my poking a little fun at his beard.  He was ok with it, of course, because he's cool that way. He also has a cool-looking Weebly website which features another great thinker with well-known hair. Weebly has an easy to use drag and drop menu for adding elements.  

Justin also shared some info about the use of green screens.  A couple of sources for you:  Jason Ohler, an expert on digital storytelling (I have his book on digital storytelling in my room if you want to have a look) has posted a nicely detailed project description using the technology.

Jeff Wills:  When I popped into Jeff Wills’ room to ask if I could take a quick picture of him working, he just smiled and replied, “I work?!” 

I think Jeff is a real 1:1 teacher’s teacher – generous, patient, and always optimistic.  He shared with us his use of Socrative student response system that also creates quizzes and games.  Here’s an in-the-classroom video of a teacher using Socrative.

Adam Britton knows what he wants to accomplish with his students and shared with us that he is already planning for next year’s 1:1 by recording some video tutorials for his students (who won't need to wait until next year to utilize them): one of them is embedded below.  

       
Some time this year we’ll have a session on screencasting; for now, here's another look at Adam's really useful, detailed review of screencasting resources.  Adam is a committed 21st century teacher ready to talk tech.

Thanks again to all these teachers who shared!  Remember... this blog is meant to serve as an archive for resources. When a teacher wants to try something out, it can be on that teacher's time -- so resources (both human and technological) will be identifiable whenever the teacher needs them.  These teachers and others (and I) are eager to help anyone who needs it.  Just let us know!