Game On

Next week I will be returning to Liberty University for my second intensive class. These classes run for five days with some pre and post course work for three hours of credit. Based on my experience last summer intensive is the proper term for this experience. Yet, these are fun because I get to meet and work with new people in a traditional classroom setting. The class I am taking next week is Technology Practice for Instructional Improvement, which should be an interesting one for me.

One of the pre-course assignments is to select a team for a literature review based on the following topics: augmented reality, game-based learning, mobile devices and apps, and personal learning environments. While Personal Learning Environments looked interesting, I selected Game-based Learning because the topic intrigued me since I first heard about it a few years back. I was told games, especially electronic ones, have certain characteristics. One, a player must learn a new skill or demonstrate a skill to progress to a new level. Achieving new levels take practice and critical thinking skills we desire in our classrooms. Two, players naturally collaborate in working towards new levels. One experienced player passes on skills to other players or multiple players work together to solve the problem needed to progress. Again, another desired trait we wish all students showed in the classroom. The best part is players (usually their parents) pay for this engagement and do it willingly.

When I was in the army we used computerized battle simulations for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle to great success. We also played role-playing games which helped in teaching various tactics needed on the battlefield. I casually observed my son playing video games over the last few years I noticed how he had to problem solve and collaborate to enjoy his games. When we played the Nintendo DS game Animal Crossing together I got to see first hand how he wanted to collaborate with me so I could learn what I needed to succeed so I would have fun playing with him. I also noticed how he could channel his creativity to enhance his game-play experience.

While not every lesson should become a game, there could be benefits to Incorporating both traditional card or board games or electronic games on a computer or massive multiplayer online (MMO) games into some lessons for potential maximization of engagement. It is going to be about two to three years before game-based learning achieves any real potential as their quality begins to match consumer-oriented games. The idea of game-based learning should not be rejected as unrealistic either. I am looking forward to learning how game-based learning can help students become better learners. Stay tuned.

Curriculum Neutrality

I am starting a Theories and Research in Educational Psychology class and one of the first assignments is to discuss whether there can be curriculum neutrality in education. The idea of curriculum neutrality is when the teacher attempts to not to place any of his or her personal, political, religious, or moral beliefs when developing curriculum for their classes. This poses two interesting questions:

1. Is curriculum neutrality possible?

2. If curriculum neutrality is possible, is it desirable? 

Personally, I say no to the first question. Curriculum will always reflect the values of the teacher, school, and community. Watch what happens whenever mentions teaching sex education at a school board or PTO meeting and you get my meaning. On the second question, if the teacher does not go overboard then yes. I have always tried to be a moral compass for my students so they would have an example to follow. All of the teachers i know always want their students to do the right thing. Sometimes it is the teacher who is the only one to provide that moral grounding and that is unfortunate.

How would you answer these two questions? Discuss!

Crossing Over

The past couple of weeks I took my first steps in reaching out to other teachers for the purpose of doing a Cross-Curricular project. The group I identified was the sixth grade Math teachers. My plan was simple, teams of students would create instructional videos demonstrating how to solve a type of math problem chosen by their Math teacher. The videos would be the Paper Slide because they are simple and quick to create. Next, I met with each teacher to explain the project and see what problem they wanted see their students to explain. Once I had the problems, it was time to organize the students into teams and give them their assignment. I grouped my students in class according to the team they are on to make this organization easier. All I had to do was use Team Shaker on my iPad to pick the teams at random. Once I informed the students of their teams and task to perform they were off. 

Imagine my surprise when our school's Math Coach, Kim, stopped me in the hallway telling me she heard about my project and offered her help which I readily accepted. Was I glad for her help because I have trouble adding 2+2 (three right?) and even more grateful when she answered my students' questions I would have had trouble with. 

The teams were given storyboard templates for them to design the slides they would use for their video. Kim and I moved around the students offering bits of advice about both the math and design of the slides. The students were also encouraged to show their storyboards to their math teachers to make sure they were correct. The students were very enthusiastic about the project and I had very little trouble keeping them on task. The biggest problem I saw, like their presentations, is they wanted to write every instruction down on the slides. I had to keep reminding them to just pick a problem and write the individual steps in solving the problem on each slide. I further explained one of the team members would explain what is going on while another team member was videotaping and another was working the slides. 

My students are almost finished with this project. Once a team tells me they have finished a video to my specifications (it has to be sharable), I come look at it. If there are any problems then I explain that the team needs to try again with the corrections I suggested. When I am satisfied, the videos are to be sent to their Math teachers via Edmodo for their evaluation and I enter my grade in the books. Once we are finished, I plan on going back to the Math teachers to see how things went and how this project could be done better next time. 

Was this project effective? One student came up to Kim and I to tell us this project was harder than she thought it would be. We asked why and she replied that that she had to know more to explain how to do a problem than just solving the problem like she normally would. Kim and I looked at each other and smiled. Mission accomplished!

Here is a video on how to create a Paper Slide Video.

Computer Tech in a Common Core and iPad World

The start of the 2012-2013 school year seemed to be more hectic than ever. First, my family was finishing picking up the pieces of a house fire that happened in late May. It was not fun living in hotel rooms over the summer except for that week we spent in Florida. Bluffton Middle School got a new principal because our former principal was promoted to be the district's new Chief Instructional Support Officer. While she has not made too many changes, she is naturally curious about what our school does and Computer Technology is no exception. The state of South Carolina is making changes as it moves toward the Common Core State Standards and a new way to evaluate students, teachers, and schools so the No Child Left Behind requirements may be waived. The biggest news of all is our school's core academic teachers are receiving iPad carts for students to use this year. All of this means big changes in the focus of Computer Technology but I had been moving toward this since last year because I saw it coming. 

First, we all knew about state's shift towards Common Core which is required to get out from under No Child Left Behind. The features I like best about Common Core is how it requires students to be able to think about problems and seek solutions. This includes being able to seek information to help solve those problems. Anything that requires students to research information and then present the results of that research is always welcome to this Social Studies (yes, that's right) teacher. The other aspect of Common Core is how it encourages teachers to create cross-curricular projects. This is something I have wanted to do with Computer Technology from when it was created. So far I have had some great discussions with the academic teachers about how we can do joint projects and I am excited by their enthusiasm so far. There will be fits and starts but once the kinks are worked it out it will be a great experience for everyone involved. Another thing is that I have my students do research on effective presentations and cyber safety then present their findings. As I explain to them I could do a whole group lecture but it would not mean as much as to have them learn it then give a whole group lecture. 

Second, while our school is getting iPads, I was put on notice that the only iPad I will even get a sniff at is the one I bought recently and carry to work everyday. Students will not be allowed to bring the Apple tablets due to security and logistical concerns. The iPads will not be allowed to go home with the students. Hopefully, as the district gains experience and confidence this will change. For now it poses a problem for me. How do I teach students how to create technology projects using iPads when I only have PC's? Believe it or not this problem is actually simple: I teach students the basics of design. This means instead of teaching PowerPoint, I teach students how to design presentations that can be effective using PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Presentation or any other presentation application. The same goes with video, photos, audio, documents, etc.... I teach enough of any application for students to create that basic project. My students still want to throw everything into a project but the kitchen sink but I keep after them to keep things simple as I explain they will not have time to do this in their other classes. There is a lot of bad habits they have picked up over time and most of it done by teachers who do not know how to design presentations for an audience. As students are working on projects they are slowly getting the idea that products are for other people and not themselves which is an important step. My students will not have the iPads forever and they won't have them at home either. This means students should learn how to use the devices he or she has at home because that can be depended on throughout their days in school and beyond.

There are other minor changes that I have made that show promise and I may write about over the course of the year. It is safe to say that so far I am mostly pleased with the way things are going and I hope it stays that way. 

The start of the 2012-2013 school year seemed to be more hectic than ever. First, my family was finishing picking up the pieces of a house fire that happened in late May. It was not fun living in hotel rooms over the summer except for that week we spent in Florida. Bluffton Middle School got a new principal because our former principal was promoted to be the district's new Chief Instructional Support Officer. While she has not made too many changes, she is naturally curious about what our school does and Computer Technology is no exception. The state of South Carolina is making changes as it moves toward the Common Core State Standards and a new way to evaluate students, teachers, and schools so the No Child Left Behind requirements may be waived. The biggest news of all is our school's core academic teachers are receiving iPad carts for students to use this year. All of this means big changes in the focus of Computer Technology but I had been moving toward this since last year because I saw it coming. 
First, we all knew about state's shift towards Common Core which is required to get out from under No Child Left Behind. The features I like best about Common Core is how it requires students to be able to think about problems and seek solutions. This includes being able to seek information to help solve those problems. Anything that requires students to research information and then present the results of that research is always welcome to this Social Studies (yes, that's right) teacher. The other aspect of Common Core is how it encourages teachers to create cross-curricular projects. This is something I have wanted to do with Computer Technology from when it was created. So far I have had some great discussions with the academic teachers about how we can do joint projects and I am excited by their enthusiasm so far. There will be fits and starts but once the kinks are worked it out it will be a great experience for everyone involved. Another thing is that I have my students do research on effective presentations and cyber safety then present their findings. As I explain to them I could do a whole group lecture but it would not mean as much as to have them learn it then give a whole group lecture. 

Second, while our school is getting iPads, I was put on notice that the only iPad I will even get a sniff at is the one I bought recently and carry to work everyday. Students will not be allowed to bring the Apple tablets due to security and logistical concerns. The iPads will not be allowed to go home with the students. Hopefully, as the district gains experience and confidence this will change. For now it poses a problem for me. How do I teach students how to create technology projects using iPads when I only have PC's? Believe it or not this problem is actually simple: I teach students the basics of design. This means instead of teaching PowerPoint, I teach students how to design presentations that can be effective using PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Presentation or any other presentation application. The same goes with video, photos, audio, documents, etc.... I teach enough of any application for students to create that basic project. My students still want to throw everything into a project but the kitchen sink but I keep after them to keep things simple as I explain they will not have time to do this in their other classes. There is a lot of bad habits they have picked up over time and most of it done by teachers who do not know how to design presentations for an audience. As students are working on projects they are slowly getting the idea that products are for other people and not themselves which is an important step. My students will not have the iPads forever and they won't have them at home either. This means students should learn how to use the devices he or she has at home because that can be depended on throughout their days in school and beyond.

There are other minor changes that I have made that show promise and I may write about over the course of the year. It is safe to say that so far I am mostly pleased with the way things are going and I hope it stays that way. 

Why Do We Do It?

 

Last week was the Beaufort County School District's Summer Institute. This our school district way to bring the conference experience to teachers every year and save money as teachers get some great professional development. The theme for this year's institute revolves around the 4 C's of 21st century learning. This concept comes from the Partnership of 21st Century Skills, a national group whose goal is to prepare our students for the 21st Century world by fusing the "3 R's" with the "4 C's." The 4 C's identified are:

-Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
-Communication
-Collaboration
-Creativity and Innovation

It should be clear these elements will make students stand out from tasks that can be routinely done by machines. Add Common Core standards (another two C's) and we will have students that can tackle any future problem they will encounter. Since we have no clue what will be required in the future as far as careers are concerned it is safe to say there will be many problems. All of the sessions at the Summer Institute touched on all of these themes including my session on the Flipped Classroom.

While I did the Flipped Classroom in Greenville earlier this summer, I was given more time in Beaufort to actually work with teachers and let them experiment. After defining what the Flipped Classroom was and its possible benefits followed by a question and answer session, participants grouped by subject area created lessons and video them using the Paper Slide method I learned in Greenville. Later, each participant went on to create their own flipped lesson. I was struck by the fact that almost all of them worked together to share information and techniques even though it was an individual activity. The 4 C's in action and everyone learned something.

One of the great things I really like about conferences is the chance to see friends I have made at such conferences over the years and the conversations we have. Probably because we know we don't have much time we get down to business discussing educational issues. One such discussion was about the Flipped Classroom that I advocate. One friend said he could not grasp the flipped concept and pressed me hard on its merits because he felt it would eventually take away jobs from teachers. My friend later apologized for, in his perspective, upsetting me. There was no apology needed because my looks were actually me thinking about his questions and trying to formulate intelligent answers. If if my friend annoyed or upset me I should not take it personally. It is these type of questions that educators should always be asking each other because if we cannot adequately defend our classroom techniques then why are we doing them and even worse trying to get others to do them too. Too often we fail to ask the hard questions to each other out of fear of upsetting other friends and colleagues. If we wish to raise our standards and incorporate the 4C's in teaching students then we should be willing to use them amongst ourselves. If not then why are we doing it?

Lessons Lessons Learned

Soon I will be putting the wraps on another school year and my first experimentation with the flipped classroom. For those who are not familiar with the flipped classroom, it is a teaching style where the teacher records lectures for students to view or listen to at home instead of in the class while the students would do their "homework" or other assignments normally given to do outside of the classroom. In other words, the class is flipped. My experimentation is a hybrid of the true flipped classroom style. My lectures and demonstrations were recorded and made available to students but most of the viewing was expected to be done in class as well. My reasoning was for students to attempt to view what they needed to do then attempt to do the task themselves. This would free me to work with students who continued having problems with an assignment. After trying this with four classes over the last year I must say it was somewhat successful but I did learn some things along the way.

Lesson number one is that students need to be taught how to watch a demonstration video. One of the reasons I went to my flipped style class was based on how students performed after watching me do demonstrations in the past. Usually, it was like I did not do a demonstration at all. I would still have to go over the task about 30 times because students only saw the demo once and rarely bothered to take notes. When I told students to watch the video I created, they would watch the video all the way through and not stop to attempt the steps as the video progressed. Then they would look up and say they did not get it. Once I showed them they could stop the video at any point and rewind when necessary did the videos become more effective.

Lesson number two is that it is hard to break years of conditioning. This did not really surprise me because I have done other things in my class that runs counter to what students have done in other classes. Still students would sit at their seats and wait for me to do some kind of lecture even when I told them their assignments and resources are on Edmodo. This usually took a few days for students to get used to.

Lesson number three is the grades will be horrible at the beginning. As I implied in lessons one and two, students need a period of adjustment. They will keep trying to do things they are used to without success and get frustrated. Administrators and parents will want to know what you are doing by suddenly becoming the hardest class to pass in the school. Hold your ground because it is almost like a light switch turning on when students finally figure it out. The grades will shoot up like a rocket. Most parents who meet with me to put my head on a platter usually look at their child and say "I wish I had this when I was in school" after I demonstrate how the videos work.

Lesson 4 is to have your gradebook with you as move around the class. The grades will quickly let you know who needs the extra help and who does not. I carry around an iPad that is connected to my computer via Splashtop. This allows me to see grades at an instant to determine who needs help. Also, it allows me to enter grades immediately when a student shows me a successfully completed assignment which save a lot of time come grade report time.

Lesson 5 is to hold the students accountable. Many times a student will tell me he or she does not understand what to do. The first question I ask is if the student watched the video. The answer is usually no because students who watch the video usually have a more direct question about a certain step. In the past some students did have a legitimate complaint because the videos did not work due to technical problems but I would quickly work to fix the technical problems. If students are not working quickly enough then I make a call to parents to offer my after school services to give extra help. While that cures most problems, there are students who are in legitimate need.

Here is a lesson I learned from another teacher who is doing it with her class: make sure to upload the lecture video as soon after school as you can. I heard one parent complain that a video lesson to be viewed at home was not uploaded in a decent hour. The problem was technical but you should be mindful of parents who want to download the videos so their children can watch it. Also, there are those high-maintenance parents who can never be satisfied.

Now that one year of using a flipped classroom is almost in the books I will be looking and reflecting on what happened. There will be videos that will need updating as tools change. Also, I will look at lessons that need videos if no other reason than to show what a successful product looks like. Over the summer I will be sharing my experiences with teachers from one end of South Carolina to another and help them create their own flipped classroom lessons. Then I will be looking forward to doing it again next year.

Yum! Projects!

Delicious cell project created by a 7th grade science student.

My son's The Scarlet Letter Project. It was all I could do to keep him from making an F on this one because it looked and smelled so good. 

As yummy as both projects look do they really teach others about cells or Nathaniel Hawthorne's literary masterpiece?

It is getting close to the end of the term and that usually means project time. This morning the 7th grade students from one team were bringing in all kinds of ways to show parts of cells for their science class. There were models, poster boards, and even some delicious looking cells (see the photo above).

This brought me back to something I have been thinking of over the past few week, should students create computer programs for projects? One group of students are creating an interactive cell using Scratch for their final project in my class. The thought first occurred to me when I observed students doing their Scratch during the semester. Last week I mentioned to a science teacher that one group of students was creating an interactive cell program and her eyes grew big. It seems to me that teachers would like to see something new. Not only that but something that would actually be useful in teaching something to other students.

Lately I have been requiring my students show value in what their projects can offer. Part of this would mean creating projects that may do more than demonstrate what the creator knows about the topic. What can that project offer to other people to increase their knowledge of that topic. Is that not what the creation and distribution of information is all about? When my 6th grade students started creating video commercials for library books I told them they would be used by our media specialist during the morning school news show. The students thought I was joking until they started seeing what their classmates had turned in on the Promethean boards of their first period classes. This realization motivated those who had not finished their videos to start taking their work more seriously. 

If students realize that what they do will actually be used by teachers or other school personnel for a purpose they will work harder to make sure their work is correct. For now on I can tell students that any project they complete may show up in places they have never dreamed of before.

Here is an example of a Scratch program that teaches about cells that was created by a team from my Computer Technology 7 class. Not bad for four days of work.

Tonight's Homework: Get These Apps

The other day in my Computer Tech 7 class, I was walking around monitoring students as they were working on their final assignments and making up missed work. I spied one students doing the tell tale signs of hiding something. When I asked what he was hiding he said nothing, usual first response. When I pressed him further, he said it was a lollipop which he knew was a big no-no in my class. When he went to throw away the offending item I noticed nothing went into the trash can which is another student trick. When I pressed him about not noticing anything resembling the item he was trying to hide go into the trash can he finally and sheepishly gave up the offending item. It was an iPod Touch. He took a moment to look at his device as if he was saying goodbye to good friend which I am sure is what he thought was going on. In most cases saying goodbye would be the appropriate sentiment. However, I wanted him to started thinking of his iPod as a tool as well as a toy.

When he surrendered the iPod Touch, I took a look at the apps he had on the device. Not surprisingly it was full of games. To this student, and I am sure he is not the only one, this was a toy. I went back to my desk and pulled out my iPhone and started jotting down the name of some apps that would be beneficial in any class and made sure they were free ones. When I finished the list I called the student over. I told him that I had a homework assignment for him. He was to download all the apps that I had on my list, which I gave him. I further told him that I would check his iPod Touch the next time he came to class and better have the apps on the list on his device. I explained what the apps would do and even showed him a demo of a couple of them. The class had fun with Action Movie by Bad Robot Interactive. This is one where you can create a movie clip with a special effect added in. Then you can insert the action clip into a larger video project. The students loved being blown up by incoming missiles or blown to Oz by a tornado. I am sure this app got downloaded many times because I saw students writing down the name of the app. Years ago, I read in the book "So Where's My Apple" that sometimes you have just watch the dump trucks. So I guess you have to take time out to launch virtual air strikes on students so they can have fun. I must admit it can be therapeutic for the teacher too.

Here is a copy of the list I gave to the student with the iPod Touch. They are all iOS and can be found on the iTunes App Store. I will note down apps that I know are also on Android but search if I don't.

Edmodo: new updates allow students to do homework on mobile devices. There is an Android version too.
EasyBib: This site and app makes creating bibliographies a snap. Just scan a barcode or type in the title of a book for a citation. They just created an Android version too.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary (Free Version) or Dictionary.com: Who does not need a handy dictionary? Also on Android. Tell those kids to look that word up themselves.
Blogger, Tumblr, and Posterous: All are blogging apps and all have Android apps too.
Genius Scan: Okay, I know that it is not cool to create copies of tests but classroom management will have to take care of that one. However, being able to scan documents can be helpful to students too as well as saving paper costs. There are similar apps for Android.
Splice (free version): A decent video editor that some say is better than iMovie for iOS.
PS Express: A nice photo editor. There are many other good ones for both iOS and Android too.
Red Laser: If you or your school does anything with QR Codes then this is a must have app. There are similar apps for Android.

If you know of any other good apps to share with students please share them in the comments.

Check your sources!

The other night I was settling in for a too short of a late summer nap when my son turns the light on and jumps onto my bed. Now he wanted my help with his upcoming U.S. History vocabulary quiz the next day. He told me about the quiz earlier in the evening and I asked him what era of U.S. History he was studying. He told me he thought it was the colonial era and the Constitution, a rather vague but normal answer from a 16-year old. I offered then to help him with his vocabulary since I was a history teacher once upon a time. He declined my offer because he wanted to do it himself. Another normal answer from my son but this trait comes from my side of his DNA pool. Getting back to the story, he asks me about various terms such as Shay's Rebellion, compromise (I am glad he did not ask Members of Congress about this one), Virginia and New Jersey Plans, and other terms about the time the United States Constitution was written and ratified (another one of the terms). I helped him as best I could then he threw his notebook at me and asked me to go over the terms with him. 

As I looked over his work I noticed what he had written was not quite right but not really wrong either. The problem was his definitions did not fit the context of U.S. History. I asked him where he got his definitions from. My son replied, "Dictionary.com." Huh?! No wonder things looked disjointed. I told my son that while Dictionary.com could define words, he needs to find a history site that would give him the definitions he needed for class. In the past I had students turn-in such work and I gave partial credit because the work did not encompass the historical topic we were studying. However, in those days, students who had Internet access was not very common.

This past Friday night I saw my son's U.S. History teacher, an old friend from when we taught together, and relayed the story about the study session with him. His hope was that the students were using their textbooks. News flash for all of you who think students really use textbooks at home or involved in the argument about virtual textbooks! Students stopped using textbooks at home years ago. The things are too heavy, get destroyed by rain at sports practices (who uses lockers), and too big a pain to use for students to use. Guess where they go? That's right, the Internet. You probably could tap into the browser histories of some of your better students and you would have your online textbook ready to go. However, there are students like my son who will make an honest effort but often go to the wrong website for information. I told my friend he might want to find a history website that would have the information he wanted and share that with his classes. This is something we all should probably do. It occured to me that students are now driving the innovations with our input or without it. Which way would you want it?

Lights, Camera, Teach

My students this year are more convinced than ever that I have really gone mad with the technology. Over the last several days I have been producing more video than a B-movie studio lot on a variety of topics such as Edmodo, Edublogs, network navigation, and other quick how-to videos as I go through the process of "flipping" my classroom. A few minutes ago I just wrapped up a video on how and why to make presentations more effective in which I recorded myself giving the Keynote presentation. Even "raising your hand" has had a 21st Century make over as students text me though Edmodo with their questions or to ask me to check their work. Surprisingly, I have found these new changes rather helpful even if some students have found it disconcerting, Am I rapidly going into Education 2.0 or even 3.0?

When I decided to try the Flip-style classroom this year I knew that I would very busy shooting, editing, and publishing videos needed for this teaching style to work. I will shoot a video on a topic, such as creating a blog post, I think the students will need. Later, I find myself doing reshoots when a need to focus more on a specific task such as inserting a link into a blog post comes up. Its okay because this is a learning process for me too and the students are proving to be excellent teachers. The trick is for the students who have spent the last five to six years having instruction delivered to them via lecture, group or individual work, or reading from a book to buy into going to the videos I have created first. Guess it take a while to change the years of conditioning students have gone through of either raising their hands or coming up to the teacher when they have a question. Some have not realized yet the educational power that is at their beck and call. They have a teacher who is always upbeat, never gets cranky when they ask to be shown how to do something for the 10th time, and have a private tutor at their home on nights and weekends. Another thing they may not realize is they actually get more time on the computer because I don't have to do as much whole group instruction. Finally, with an average class load of about 30 students over the eight classes I teach, I need a way to "shrink" the class down to a size where I can actually give more individual attention when it is needed. The videos help because many of the students can watch them and then they are good for whatever task they saw and they may not need my help, just some periodic feedback.

When I thought about the other means of transition my way of teaching I was not quiet sure I would like it and thought it could really drive me insane. I entered my mobile phone # into Edmodo as a means of learning social network management because I would receive a text message on my phone whenever the students sent a message, even the silly ones I try to stop. One thing I asked the students to do is if he or she had a question, even after watching the videos, they should post their question on Edmodo. My goal is for these students to learn how to tap into the power of Personal Learning Community as a means to find the answers they seek. I saw myself as the facilitator as I monitored their posts and be ready to step in if someone was being lead astray. This is actually beginning to work as the students are becoming more confident in using Edmodo to take charge of their own learning. I just hope this will lead to similar attitudes when they go to Facebook, Google+, Twitter, or whatever social network is popular in the future. Back to the text messages, They help me prioritize which students had their "hand up" first which allows me to be fair to all. Another hidden benefit is the text messages allow me spot trends quicker than if I was getting emails that could come much later. One warning, don't try the text message option unless you have an unlimited text messaging option because I receive messages at all times.

I am excited about how new technologies are being adapted in my classroom and I will be giving updates on how things progress over the semester. For now I will continue to push, prod, guide, or otherwise teach my students the subtle lesson of taking charge of their own learning so they may be more successful in the future.

Thoughts Going Into the 2011-2012 School Year

As I get ready for the 2011-2012 school year here are some thoughts I have bouncing around my head.

Computer Technology 7: This is the course I really worked hard on since, in all honesty, last January. I have notes scribbled across three or four Livescribe notebooks, four notebooks in Evernote, one Livebinder site, and one blog post on this website. It was written across three states over the summer. I consulted PhD holders, Media Specialists, administrators, and people working in the technology field. Probably put my job in jeopardy by begging, pleading, arguing, debating, and discussing the course's needs with district Instructional Technology gurus. The only thing I have not done yet is threaten anyone’s life but the year is still young.

There are still some last-minute compromises left to do with the other Computer Technology teacher and it should be ready to go. I can tell you how it will look. The course is building off what students learned in Computer Technology 6 which was how to create basic digital text, audio, and video media. Now the seventh grade students will need to take these lessons and apply them to a variety of tasks designed to share their knowledge of cybersafety. For example, a student may research the topic of cyberbullying to create a presentation in Prezi. Once the presentation is create, he or she will do a screencast giving the presentation which will be uploaded to the student's Livebinder page.

After all the media options are done then the students will be introduced to computer programming using Scratch. I already have the ebook, Shall We Learn Scratch, by Jessica Chiang loaded on Edmodo for the students to read. This is the first time I have worked with an ebook with students and I am looking forward to the experience. The things I will closely watch is how well students like using an ebook and if any of them download the book onto an iPad, Nook, Kindle, or other device. Students will work through the problems in the book to get comfortable with writing programs. Then the students will create their own original program. If there is time, they may even write apps for Andriod and iOS devices.

While I have tried to foresee every possible problem, there are still about a million things that can go wrong with this course. Also, would someone please let me know where I can get a job that allows me to be a whinny, spoiled, overpaid teacher who only does this to get the summers off. I worked my tail off to create this course and did not receive one penny for the effort. Still, it had to be done if I wanted to make sure my students have a great experience.

Apps and gadgets I can't wait to use: This year I really want to test how mobile devices can work in a classroom setting (one of the things that can blowup in my face). I am going to set Edmodo to send me a text message whenever a student has a question. This would allow me to help students in turn, force the students to send proper messages, and inspire the students to use a social network as a collaborative tool. Students will be told to ask questions on Edmodo while they are working. I will encourage the class to post an answer to the question if anyone knows the answer. If a question is answered correctly before I get to the student who asked the question, the better off students will be. I plan on making use of my new tablet as well. One thing is to determine if a tablet will be good enough for a student to complete most of his or her assignments. I wrote about Socrative earlier but I am really can't wait to try this out with my students. This app is a web-based Student Response System and is much cheaper than makers of the so-called "clickers" that Promethean, Smart, CPS, and other vendors make. Apps can be downloaded to iOS or Android devices and works pretty good. Once an assessment is completed, the teacher will receive a spreadsheet report by email. I plan on giving Edublogs another chance this year. When I received emails saying no emails would be needed and there was no more advertising it made me one happy camper. While Kidblog is a great blogging app, the way it requires teachers to administer the blogs got to be a chore. Also, it was easy to accidentally delete an entire class's blogs. I still think Kidblog is a good blogging tool but probably more for elementary or some middle school teachers who may take care of only one blog per class or really does not care about creating tools students can use as they move from grade to grade. Finally, I hope I can get all of my team on Google+. The ability to communicate with each other using this platform has lots of potential. Also, if Hangout works, if a teacher is missing a meeting  or needs to talk face-to-face it can be done relatively easy.

Renewed focus on reading and writing in United States History and Social Studies in general: Last year I heard, to my dismay, that some high schools were telling history teachers to stop writing and only focus on preparing for the End of Course exam. This troubled me because I knew that this approach would not prepare students for college and the worship of test scores had gone out of control. This year reading and writing are put back into the curriculum. Teachers will be expected to have their students read primary sources, answer document-based questions, and write essays. Theodore Roosevelt and I say "Bully!"

Working with the adults: I am really excited to hear about the number of teachers who are willing to give Edmodo a chance when they realize Computer Technology would continue to use it. There are more teachers in my school willing to use technology and they would like something to help make the task easier. Attempting to use the school's network and website for communications, collaboration, and exchanging assignments is not getting the job done. Plus they like the fact that most of the students already have accounts and are trained on how to use it. Another thing I would like to do is gather a group of teachers who are willing and attempt to take charge of our own professional development. Two things I would love to work with a group on is creating and delivering better presentations. Another learning opportunity I would love to do is start looking more at brain research and how we as teachers can use it to help our students. One of the things I learned over the summer is that countries that outperform the United States had true professional teachers who were expected to research or get training the latest techniques then share them with the rest of the faculty. I wonder how many teachers will want to give this a try too.

Alright, here are my main thoughts as we start the 2011-2012 school year. It will be interesting to see how things progress over the course of the year. To all of you who will soon have young faces staring up at you as school starts I hope you have a great school year.