On Tuesday, we had a district wide in-service day.
I had a great opportunity to present to the fifth grade teachers. By the end of the year, each fifth grade classroom in the district will be equipped with a Promethean board and ActiveStudio.
I downloaded a good presentation from Promethean planet that showcased how teachers can use ActiveStudio to create a better learning environment by making lessons interactive, adding some pop to the normal, using the board to improve classroom management, and doing neat and unexpected things. After that, I went through the basic tools on the tool bar and the power tools.
I only had 45 minutes to present (and might have gone over by about 15, actually). On one level, I was really excited, because that is the longest space I've been given to officially present ActiveStudio to any teachers. At the same time, I was a bit worried. No teachers had laptops, and I was not able to give any time for processing or practicing. I know that some of the teachers were very overwhelmed by the presentation. It was a lot of information to squeeze into just 60 minutes.
I was a little disappointed to reflect that, even though this presentation went well and was a great opportunity, I have not been able to give this level of training to the high school teachers I am supposed to be supporting. The longest I have been given for any training on ActiveStudio at the high school has been twenty minutes. I've had a few one on one opportunities to go through some of the functions, but that is generally on a teacher's planning period, where they can't really give me the full 45 minutes.
I'm hoping that the fifth grade teachers will provide positive feedback about the training. If the fifth grade teachers do more to use the boards effectively in the classroom, it will hopefully send a message that this type of training, and more, is needed even at the high school level.
I gave all of my contact information to the fifth grade teachers, and hope to hear back from some of them. Most of them do not have the program installed yet, and therefore are not needing an support for technical or integration issues. I'm planning on sending out a follow up email in the next few days, though. It is important to stay in touch with teachers, especially those who might feel that, because I am supposed to work at the high school, their questions are a bother to me.
I think that this was one of the most important professional development opportunities I have had so far at my school. Hopefully progress will come from it.
Showing posts with label oppurtunities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oppurtunities. Show all posts
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Presidential My Space--Day Three
Last day of the project.
Projects are not due til the following day, so students can work on them from home, or stay after school.
One of the benefits of this project was that students could easily access their work from anywhere. There was no saving of files involved. At the same time, it was not a public web space, so student privacy was maintained. This is probably the #1 reason I'm such a big fan of wikis.
I was in and out of the class today, because I was starting a project with another teacher. For the most part, students made good use of their time, and worked throughout.
One thing I saw was that honors students, who had to follow the general rubric, as well as extra directions that were posted on their class page, were forgetting the extra directions. In the past, when a teacher has divided a wiki into classes, I have them post all of the directions on each classes' page. Its redundant, but I think it helps the students stay organized. I think in this case especially, it would have been a very good idea.
As the project went on, and, as is common, a lot of student were more concerned with how things looked than the content, the teacher and I came up with the idea of using the directions/rubric as a check sheet. We suggested to students to print it out, and check off requirements as they were met. Quite a few students took the suggestion. I think I'll remember that for similar projects in the future, and encourage teachers to either do directions in more of list form, or to have a list version of the directions. Its easier to check off items on a list than in a paragraph.
Towards the end of one of the classes, I asked the teacher about grading the project. He seemed pleased to have someone to help him grade, and suggested that I go through the projects, make grade suggestions, and he'd either take the suggestions or not. Part of me regrets the offer, because its more work. Most of me knows that I haven't assessed anything in a long time. It will be good to get back into it. Also, being useful to teachers helps build those relationships. If another teacher asks me to help put together a project for the simple reason that he/she thinks I'll do all the grading, than that is a great opportunity to introduce yet another teacher to using tech in the classroom.
The projects look very good. It seems that most of the students included most of the required content. I don't know how many students went outside of their comfort zone and had fun being creative, though. I probably won't get to assessing anything today. I'll have to update on how the finished projects are, once I've been through some of them--I even got permission to post some examples once I remove student names.
Projects are not due til the following day, so students can work on them from home, or stay after school.
One of the benefits of this project was that students could easily access their work from anywhere. There was no saving of files involved. At the same time, it was not a public web space, so student privacy was maintained. This is probably the #1 reason I'm such a big fan of wikis.
I was in and out of the class today, because I was starting a project with another teacher. For the most part, students made good use of their time, and worked throughout.
One thing I saw was that honors students, who had to follow the general rubric, as well as extra directions that were posted on their class page, were forgetting the extra directions. In the past, when a teacher has divided a wiki into classes, I have them post all of the directions on each classes' page. Its redundant, but I think it helps the students stay organized. I think in this case especially, it would have been a very good idea.
As the project went on, and, as is common, a lot of student were more concerned with how things looked than the content, the teacher and I came up with the idea of using the directions/rubric as a check sheet. We suggested to students to print it out, and check off requirements as they were met. Quite a few students took the suggestion. I think I'll remember that for similar projects in the future, and encourage teachers to either do directions in more of list form, or to have a list version of the directions. Its easier to check off items on a list than in a paragraph.
Towards the end of one of the classes, I asked the teacher about grading the project. He seemed pleased to have someone to help him grade, and suggested that I go through the projects, make grade suggestions, and he'd either take the suggestions or not. Part of me regrets the offer, because its more work. Most of me knows that I haven't assessed anything in a long time. It will be good to get back into it. Also, being useful to teachers helps build those relationships. If another teacher asks me to help put together a project for the simple reason that he/she thinks I'll do all the grading, than that is a great opportunity to introduce yet another teacher to using tech in the classroom.
The projects look very good. It seems that most of the students included most of the required content. I don't know how many students went outside of their comfort zone and had fun being creative, though. I probably won't get to assessing anything today. I'll have to update on how the finished projects are, once I've been through some of them--I even got permission to post some examples once I remove student names.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Taking Oppurtunities
I had some unexpected visitors to my room today.
I had no idea why they where there to begin with. I share my room with another teacher, who suddenly showed up with 4 students. They didn't seem to be her students (because she had to ask each of them their names.) At first I thought it was some sort of in school detention (I had to hope my room was not suddenly suitable for in school suspension). But then the students started talking among themselves, which I didn't think the other teacher would have permitted in a detention setting.
I didn't want to embarrass anyone, or provoke anything, so I didn't want to ask the other teacher the obvious question: who are these kids? So I sent her an email. Sure enough she checked it and got back to me quickly. She was supposed to be covering their class, but the room was locked when she got there. Since there were so few of them, and we have enough space, she brought them back. Probably the best decision in the situation.
So, four kids with forty minutes, and nothing to do. There probably is a sub plan, but its locked away in the classroom for now.
So I went to my bag of web 2.0 tricks and thought about what to pick. I wanted to give the kids a tool they might be able to use, and something that would keep them engaged for at least most of the period.
I settled on voki. It is simple to use. It can be used for school or merely entertainment. Its interactive, audio, and visual. In short, perfect for this impromptu lesson.
My pitch, "who wants to see something cool on the computer." Ok, so that could have been better. Two of the four came over. I walked them through it. I asked which character to use, and what clothes, accessories, and background to use. We ended up with a Turkey in a Santa suite with a pilgrim hat in a night club.
At that point I decided the students had had enough instruction. The best way for most of us to learn is by doing, or by showing. I let those two each create their own. I then invited the other two, who were by now laughing at the silly things being said by odd looking talking faces, to make one. Instead of going through my instructions again, I asked one of the first two students to show them how. I think one student out of the four was the most interested in the website. I made sure to have him repeat it to me on the way out, so that he'll have it at his use in the future.
I don't know if I advanced the education of anyone today. But I introduced four students, with nothing to do, to web 2.0. They now at least know they can make talking cartoons. Maybe they will want to add them to a future school project. Maybe they will find a personal use for them. Maybe they will wonder what else they can do so easily on the web. Or maybe, hopefully, they will realize that a lot of these "web tools" are really easy to use if you take two minutes to try them out.
I had no idea why they where there to begin with. I share my room with another teacher, who suddenly showed up with 4 students. They didn't seem to be her students (because she had to ask each of them their names.) At first I thought it was some sort of in school detention (I had to hope my room was not suddenly suitable for in school suspension). But then the students started talking among themselves, which I didn't think the other teacher would have permitted in a detention setting.
I didn't want to embarrass anyone, or provoke anything, so I didn't want to ask the other teacher the obvious question: who are these kids? So I sent her an email. Sure enough she checked it and got back to me quickly. She was supposed to be covering their class, but the room was locked when she got there. Since there were so few of them, and we have enough space, she brought them back. Probably the best decision in the situation.
So, four kids with forty minutes, and nothing to do. There probably is a sub plan, but its locked away in the classroom for now.
So I went to my bag of web 2.0 tricks and thought about what to pick. I wanted to give the kids a tool they might be able to use, and something that would keep them engaged for at least most of the period.
I settled on voki. It is simple to use. It can be used for school or merely entertainment. Its interactive, audio, and visual. In short, perfect for this impromptu lesson.
My pitch, "who wants to see something cool on the computer." Ok, so that could have been better. Two of the four came over. I walked them through it. I asked which character to use, and what clothes, accessories, and background to use. We ended up with a Turkey in a Santa suite with a pilgrim hat in a night club.
At that point I decided the students had had enough instruction. The best way for most of us to learn is by doing, or by showing. I let those two each create their own. I then invited the other two, who were by now laughing at the silly things being said by odd looking talking faces, to make one. Instead of going through my instructions again, I asked one of the first two students to show them how. I think one student out of the four was the most interested in the website. I made sure to have him repeat it to me on the way out, so that he'll have it at his use in the future.
I don't know if I advanced the education of anyone today. But I introduced four students, with nothing to do, to web 2.0. They now at least know they can make talking cartoons. Maybe they will want to add them to a future school project. Maybe they will find a personal use for them. Maybe they will wonder what else they can do so easily on the web. Or maybe, hopefully, they will realize that a lot of these "web tools" are really easy to use if you take two minutes to try them out.
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