All Teachers Need a Place For Their Stuff

I first heard this acronym from Ron Houtman (@ronhoutman) our wonderful ISD tech consultant.  In the good old days, that place was a filing cabinet (or two, three…) in the corner of the classroom and if a colleague wanted to share resources, we had to schedule time to get together.

Nowadays, of course the ideal place is in the cloud. But why, where, what, and how exactly does this cloud file cabinet work?  There are as many ways to store favorites on the Web as there are favorites to find on the Web, and you’ll probably end up using a combination of tools, but social bookmarking is a great, simple way to dip your toes in the ocean of choices. If you’ve already got a robust collection of favorites saved on your browser favorites / bookmarks bar, why change?

The number one reason to move your bookmarks to an online tool is ease of access. With a social bookmarking Website, you can store, organize, and share bookmarks from ANY Internet capable device.

Symbaloo is my personal favorite for online bookmarking. Symbaloo gives you a modern ‘apps’ like look to your bookmarks. Each icon hyperlinks to the site, page or Web based resource you want to access.

Other advantages:Free, thousands of pre-created ‘web-mixes’ to add to your own collection, completely customizable, works with RSS feeds, incredibly user friendly!

To get startedon Symbaloo as an educator:  Go to edu.symbaloo.com Important! Make sure you set it up via the edu site. That way when you start the pre-loaded webmixes they give you are education based.  

Not an educator? Go to symbaloo.com for a more generic start up set.

Once you’ve created your free account, follow the tutorial.

What skills do you need?
To start--none. You can simply use the pre-loaded web-mixes or search in the gallery for ones you’d like to add.
Customized Web-mix skills needed; download and save images, browse and select images to put on customized tiles, capture (copy) and paste URL from your browser address bar to the locator box in Symbaloo.

Classroom ideas for a customized web-mix:

Research Project:Save students the trouble of combing through Google returns. Or, better yet, let the kids find good resources on the topic and add their finds to a Web-mix.

Flip the Classroom:  Create & link formative assessment or survey created on Google forms, present the topic via prezi or glogster, YouTube videos, and a pencast from your Livescribe, include online resources for remediation, target level and extended learning on the unit topic, color code the tiles for each level.

Internet Search Resources: google, wolfram-alpha, MEL.org, Britannica Online, Wikipedia, iseek, kidtopia

Homework Help: link to tutoring sites, homework hotlines, CAST strategy tutor,

Parent Resources: School homepage, local news outlet, Internet safety resource (Netsmartz), links to textbooks

How many times have you heard (or said)  'but I'm not a technology teacher' or 'I'm not tech savvy'. Neither of these present a  valid reason to avoid embedding technology instruction in your classes. It is a grave disservice to our students if teachers hesitate to incorporate technology; even at the most basic level. And it's a disservice to our profession as well. Consider a doctor, lawyer, accountant, politician, business owner or any other highly qualified, well-educated professional who hesitated to use technology. I daresay clients would soon loose confidence in their capabilities and find a new provider. That said, dedicating time to learning all the technology teachers need to be aware of is a daunting task. And all this change involves risk-taking and stepping outside our comfort zones...Enter 21 Things....

Developers designed the original 21 Things 4 Teachers to meet the needs of teachers who have less time to attend PD due to increasing demands and lack of funding. The program has quickly grown to include a version targeted to administrators and students as well. All three align to NETS and METS and the developers are working to align to CCSS. The programs are currently under review for the official ISTE stamp of approval--which I'm sure will happen, as each is hands-down the best resource available for all three groups.

State of Michigan teachers, can earn graduate credit or SB-CEUs for completing the course. Check with your local RESA or ISD for complete details. Not in Michigan? Or just want to work through the resources less formally? Anyone can access all materials, lesson plans, virtual classroom archives, links etc. Each includes pre- and post-assessment, reflection, portfolio and all the tools necessary to achieve the objectives either as a cohort or on your own.

In my district, providing PD is an ongoing challenge. There's so much staff need to be up to date on; Marzano, UDL, CCSS, PBIS, METS, NETS, MEAP, RIT, RtI, SIP, implementing something like 21 Things can be a challenge. So, get creative. Break the Things down into 2 or 3 groups and work on them over a couple of years. Start an informal PLN in your building and work through them together--like going to the gym with a friend, dedicating yourself to others in learning technology will not only increase your likelihood to stick with it, it gives you the support you need to get through it.  

The student version fulfills the requirements for 8th grade tech proficiency.  The content can be used for a dedicated technology course, but if your district is like mine, there just isn't time in the schedule for that these days. Again, the program was developed with flexibility and convenience in mind. Some districts break it down into 3 components - one for each grade 6-8. Others align each Thing to a content area and integrate via curriculum. Complete with step by step instructions, tips, lessons and all necessary resources the 21 Things package makes it easy for even the most tech wary and time-constrained to start integrating--just-in-time!

*note --author has no connection to 21 Things other than having attended today's presentation, working through some of the modules personally, and collecting anecdotal reports from staff participants and stands to receive no personal gain from promoting these open source materials*

I saw this headline this morning Girl, 15, Lured Victim to Gang Attack and Filmed it:  Cops  A further glance at my reader revealed that the video had gone viral on YouTube. At first, I just shook my head and scrolled down to the next headline. I often react this way to things I find reprehensible. I don't want to lend them credence by giving them my attention. And what kind of world do we live in anyway, that so many people feel the need to witness this by watching the video?

Then I realized the people watching this video are probably a lot like the kids in our classrooms; and the people ignoring it are probably a lot like me.

While many schools have opened up to YouTube, it still attracts a certain amount of criticism for content exactly like this. But what a great opportunity to connect with students!

Back in the day, I connected with my kids by listening to the same music and watching the same TV shows as them.  Now, I see the value of keeping up on viral videos, no matter how inane, offensive or ridiculous.

Teachers who watch the same videos as their students recognize the references they make in side conversations and journal entries. They use those cultural connections in examples in class. They present them as writing prompts, discussion starters, settings for debate, literary and historical connections. The possibilities are endless.

So, in the spirit of Marc Prensky in his discussion on Digital Natives vs Digital Immigrants, in an effort to value and respect who kids are today and where they come from, it's time to visit YouTube.

I just had an interesting conversation with a friend who recently went back to college after about 20 years out of the game. She described to me how EVERYTHING is done on line. (yes) And, even worse, on a PC!! (yes) She finds herself in the uncomfortable position of having to navigate through layers to find the calculator, scrolling back and forth in a document to reference math formulas vs. math problems, and clicking btwn tools (which invariably get lost) to put all the pieces together in an attempt to finish her inclass, electronic assignment. Then, she's faced with the monumental task of locating the appropriate drive on which to upload her assignment. (Sound familiar?) She finds the whole process incredibly inefficient. Why can't she just have a calculator at her fingertips? Or why can't the prof hand them an actual piece of paper (horrors!) with the reference materials?

Good questions...How do we balance efficiency and electronic learning? How do we balance teaching content and teaching tech skills?

Many educators assume that students are comfortable learning in this environment. They see the so-called digital natives in their classrooms and assume they are fluent in technology.

But are they? These natives juggle social and entertainment tools like a street artist with a basket of oranges on a unicycle. But how good are they at managing a split screen, calculator and Internet search all in the hopes of using a word processing program to produce an intelligently scripted short answer in 20 minutes or less?

So what's a digital immigrant to do? Follow these reminders to help you develop lessons that incorporate content knowledge and technology skill development.

Identify: 
What is the goal of the lesson?  What are the tech tool(s) of choice?

Analyze: 
Will this tool add to the lesson? --Can it be integrated without losing site of the content objectives?

Does it support differentiation? --Will it challenge students at various levels of tech and content knowledge?

Prepare:  What level of knowledge do you, the teacher, have to support student use of these tools? What support do you have?

Scaffold:  Build your students up to the level you want them at. Have supports available and allow their use. Provide support and be flexible. Be careful not to enable; embed tech goals in your lessons and set the expectation for all students.

Recognize & Reward:  A feeling of accomplishment or an ah-ha moment can be a strong motivator. Make sure tech skills are included in evaluations, peer assessments & self-monitoring.

It doesn't all have to happen at once. You and your students can learn to use tech tools step-by-step so it's done efficiently, and leads to efficiency.