Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Journal 7: Developing my PLN

A PLN is the acronym for Professional Learning Network.  A PLN comes into formation when a person begins to use social networking sites such as Twitter, to create a community of preferred professionals and people, who maintain an interest or insight, into similar topics.  It provides a way for people to access information globally and extend their options for professional development beyond the immediate community of resources available.  Having a PLN means that I have unlimited access to resources and collaboration that are specifically linked to my area of need.  I can also provide this support to others who may be seeking a need for resources, strategies or even words of encouragement. Especially in this time of limited funding for professional development and support, I have found that building my own PLN has already shown to be of great worth to my teaching.  Three social media sites that I have used to help me in establishing my own PLN include: Twitter, Diigo and "The Educators PLN" website.  As budget cuts have swept through public education, the priority on professional development opportunities has all but ceased to exist.  It is important to me that I remain committed to being a lifelong learner not only for myself but for the benefit of my students.  Creating my PLN has provided me so many new colleagues whom I may never have otherwise ever worked with.  I have already worked with people who can help me to create more unique behavior support plans for my students with social emotional disabilities.  I have also gained a plethora of resources to assist me in developing a professional development workshop on differentiating instruction and Web 2.0 tools, for my staff.  A PLN can provide a fresh perspective and a wealth of new ways to approach learning.

The first social networking site that I have used to access and build my PLN, is Twitter.  In my naiveté, I understood Twitter to be something where people posted "tweeted" information about their daily activities.  Feeling that there wasn't really much to my daily activities that would entice others, I stayed away.  However, I have now become introduced into the potential of Twitter which far exceeds my initial understanding.  Twitter has enabled me to make contacts with educators and thinkers abroad.  As  a teacher of students with identified disabilities, I am always searching for unique ways to bring the curriculum to my students.  I want them to maintain an experience that is positive and builds upon their ability to self-advocate and lead independent lives.   ThroughTwitter, I have made several contacts that will provide me with the supports and collaboration that I am looking for.  What I find most valuable is that I have been able to be in conversations with people who are "famous" in the world of education and I able to be part of their academic circles, their PLN's.   Currently, I am following: Alan November an Ed Tech and 21st Century learning skills expert, Timothy Gwynn,whom I found and added after following Michelle Baldwin.   Both Michelle and Timothy present to me as very accessible and extremely knowledgable.  Their profiles both include statements of a commitment to forward thinking and development of technology use and education in the classrooms.  Nicole Eredics is a wealth of information on inclusion and conducts a weekly podcast centered on inclusive classrooms.  I have read Paula Kluth's many books on teaching students with Autism.  I can now follow her Twitters as well.  I have also been led to new experts through following here Twitters.  Within one week of beginning my concentrated efforts with Twitter, I already feel that I have such an amazing wealth of resources.  I have also gained two followers on Twitter as a result of my PLN Network on Diigo.

Om July 24th 2012, at 9:00 a.m., I participated in my first Twitter chat.  #edchat is a site where thousands of people in the education field elect a topic of the day.  Once the topic has been voted on by the participants, a continual stream of Tweets, begins.   The topic during my experience was on the value and sustainability of PLN's.   At first, I was overwhelmed with the speed of the posts.  I saw comments that I wanted to expand upon but they were replaced in a flash by more wealths of knowledge.  As information sped by, I began to write down the names of people that I saw frequently or whose Tweet contained a link to an article that I was interested in.  Many of the people I chose to follow on Twitter and Diigo, came from "lurking" on the #edchat stream.  Tom Whitby appeared several times in the discussion and so I added hi to both my Twitter following and my Diigo network.

Diigo is a social networking and bookmarking site that I also utilize in an effort to build my PLN.  Upon registering to the site, Diigo lets me tag things of interest that I find as I am searching the internet. It then categorizes them into a "tag roll" based on the title that I give it.  In this way, I am able to build a library of resources.  in addition, Diigo allows me to connect with other people who are Diigo to add to my network.  When I come across an article on the internet that I like and want to keep it as a resource, I can bookmark it and tag it.  I can also add the author to my network or look up the author in the network search engine and decide if I would like to follow that person based on their profile and their subject tags as well.  Tero Toriavan, for example is one of the people I have chosen to follow in my network.  He is a special education specialist with an emphasis on Autism.  I found him when I clicked on Paula White's Diigo network page.  I had found her from the #edchat, looked her up on Diigo and when I clicked to follow her, a whole range of other people from her PLN opened up to me.  Danielle Klaus was another person I chose to follow because I found her profile to suggest she was knowledgable in the subject of education technology and adding her would be a good part of accessing resources and ideas to implement more technology in to my classroom.  Also, her PLN offered lots of people who could help me with my overall professional development and to provide future trainings and development with my staff and students.

The final social networking site I utilize in an effort to build my PLN is " The Educators PLN" website.  This site is another overwhelmingly awesome source for building relationships and ideas for my classroom.  Once again, as with the information rich Twitter and Diigo, I will also utilize this site in helping me create professional development presentations to help forward the thinking at my school site.  My PLN offers me hope with its ability to offer me fresh ideas and perspectives practically every time I choose to access it.  As I become more proficient, I would love to incorporate myself more as a contributor rather than an observer.  What I find myself doing is starting one blog or video, and then from that I get linked into something else, which introduces me to someone else.  I feel that it can go on to infinity.  I guess that one of my future goals will be to better navigate all this beneficial information and collaboration.  One blog Mrs Keehners Blog, has become my current favorite.  Her blog offers millions of references, articles, sites and professionals into the topic of differentiation in learning and incorporating Web2.0 tools.   Her blog has given me so many great ideas that I can't wait to start the year.  I will be co-teaching with an 8th grade language arts teacher this year and I would love to encourage my teaching partner to participate with me in the blog chats regarding our daily co-teaching experiences.  I found a few people on the site who shared negative stories and I know that my partner and I will be able to show a different perspective.  Once I become more comfortable myself, I would like to collaborate with some educators from my school site to create our own PLN.  Maybe even students too!

 A few of the sites that I selected to tag PLN include:

Assistive Kids Together, Inc. www. kids together.org/at I chose this site because there are so many articles related to promoting moderate/severe students into the classrooms learning with their like peers and how assistive and adaptive technologies can be used to help. I am passionate on this subject

Another site that I tagged in my Diigo PLN is Mrs.Kheener's Blog I especially appreciated and want to research more into all her listed resources on differentiating instruction using Web 2.0. This is the area where I set my professional goal for this coming school year.

 One last site I chose is educators technology.com because I want to continue to research their articles on web tools for the classroom.

Journal 6: Get Rid of Homework!



Spencer, J. (2011, 09 19).Ten reasons to get rid of homework (and five alternatives) Retrieved from http://www.educationrethink.com/2011/09/ten-reasons-to-get-rid-of-homework-and.html


 John T. Spencer believes that homework is an activity which should be reconsidered as useful.  In his article, he presents 10 reasons to defend his educational philosophy.  He argues that homework has become an activity that only those students who have someone who can continually monitor the activity at home or have someone  that will do it for them, benefit from homework as an academic reinforcement.  He also shares that children are busy and tired and that homework just becomes a task to be completed and there is no real retention of any of the content.  I agreed completely with John T. Spencer's view on homework.  I to, have been up against the scrutiny and judgement of my colleagues when I suggest that, as a staff, we consider homework as a valued exercise.   A large portion of the student population that I teach falls in that category of children who do have to go home and take care of siblings, parents and or grandparents.   We have constant complaints by the staff at my school in regards to the lack of homework completion, so why maintain it.  Don't we as educators need to learn to be flexible and isn't a major portion of our job, to problem solve?  So I suppose along with John T.Spencer, I will continue to strive to help push the paradigm shift.

 Here are my 5 suggestions for homework alternatives:

 1. Using the already established academic vocabulary list, ask students to write down, photograph, cut out and bring in, examples of that word being used in their community. Share all findings at the end of the week in a class discussion

 2. Ask students to participate in a recycling project for a week and at the end of the week create a graph to see how many items were recycled collectively

 3. Ask students to read a book or article to their sibling, grandparent or other person at home and that the experience will be discussed at the end of the week.

 4. After a class discussion on current events, ask the students to research on the topic in a group or independently and then students can share what they found in a presentation, Socratic seminar or small group discussion.

 5. Have the students pick a relative that they can access and speak with and have them interview them on a certain topic: immigration,Vietnam War, living in a different country vs. U.S. Once students have completed their interviews, class could create a website, mural, or other collective presentation of their findings.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Journal 4: Tweeting for PLN's

Ferguson, H. (2010). Join the flock. Learning and leading with technology, volume 37(8), 13-15. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Join_the_Flock.aspx

Hadley Ferguson's article provides a  chronological entry into the world of Twitter.  She also makes the suggestion that Twitter remains as the main gateway in developing Professional Learning networks ( PLN's).  Ferguson says that for her, Twitter has become a rich source of information resources.  Prior to discovering Twitter, she describes how she was often left to her own devises in getting everything from technical support to professional development.  She describes the process in methodical detail and puts emphasis on the fact that one should become completely comfortable with each step before feeling obligated to become a more active participant.  The first step is to create an account.  Ferguson discusses the profile page.  This is where a picture is posted and a brief bio is created.  She places great emphasis on makng sure the 140 characters allowed to create the profile bio, are well thought out and provide a good representation of you and your interests.  People will use this to decide if you are interesting enough to want to follow, she writes. Next, her article provides clarification on hashtags and how to use them.  The use of hashtags, helps to gain more followers thus creating a rich stream of resources in your PLN.  Ferguson's article also provides a sampling of some of her most favorite PLN resources and offers for the reader to use them as well.  Ferguson feels that if one takes the time to practice, even if it is for ten minutes a day, a person will find Twitter less intimidating and a invaluable source of information and professional networking.

I was found this article to be a comforting and normal introduction into something I was not completely clear on.  Let me explain my definition of  what "unclear" is.  Unclear for me is when all the facts, documents, explainations and rationale have been placed before me but they don't stay there.  they float around in a whirlpool, around and around and I frantically try to grasp at them.  Meanwhile, the world around my "whirlpool of unclear" is moving forward.  So, thank you to Hadley and her down to earth article which finally brought me into a state of clarity on the subject of Twitter. I participated in an #edchat discussion just the other day and as I was "lurking" about I was writing down the names of the faces and participants who came up frequently.  I did this in an effort to begin my own PLN.   I was happy to see that Ms. Ferguson had among her reccommendations of educators to follow, were two of the same people I had also identified on my own, Shelly Terrell and Tom Whitby.  In reading her article I realized that I am able to be a participant in social media and that a PLN is something I am welcome to access.  It isn't just a club for intellectual snobs nor people who wonder if Justin Beiber is getting his hair done today!  

Question 1: what efforts will I need to commit to in order to build my own PLN?

Answer:  In order to begin creating my PLN, I will need to commit a little time everyday, just as Ferguson suggested, to practicing and participating in Twitter conversations and functions.  I think that this is a key step for me to feel more confident and to become more familiar with what is out there and how people engage in Twitter conversation.  I really need practice and suggestions on creating brief messages.  I have looked for tutorials as a way to assist me with this.  When I look at this as a resource sharing tool it helps me to become more drawn and motivated to better navigate the possibilities.  it is in a sense, like learning a new language.  I think that I would also like to begin implementing it as a resource tool for my students.  It is an amzing way for them to get connections with people around the world!  By making a part of my teaching and learning model, I am also getting my own practice in.  One thought I had is if I could find a group or topic related to self awareness and advocacy for my kids.  Wouldn't it be awesome if they could connect with other kids who struggle with the same types of social/behavioral deficits and discuss and problem solve strategies together?!  I guess I have lots of work to do.  Also, I 'll need to get the A.T. guy at work to get me a decent computer.



McClintock, S. (2010). Enhance your twitter experience. Learning and leading with technology, volume 37(8), 14-17.Retrieved from www.iste.org/Libraries/...and.../June_July_2010_Join_the_Flock.sflb.ashx

Shannon McClintock's article provides her personal perception on the endless value of participating and building your own PLN.  In addition, she shares that, due to the fact that there is so much information out there, a organizational site like Hootsuite or Tweetchat is a must.  She provides a visual of how these sites work and shares a list of Twitter vocabulary terms to help people grasp access to the language of Twitter.  I will use this list in my classroom for my students and for myself.  At this point in my experience, I am not quite ready to jump into such a myriad of topics until I feel that I have good command of one.  Shannon's article helped me to understand the meaning of vocabulary I had seen earlier in my participation in #edchat conversation.  Just like any second language learner, you can ensure better success in the overall understanding of a concept, when you take the time to develop and build the tools needed, first.  I think that often, there is an assumption that because technology is so visual bright and global, there is an overall belief that it is automatically accessible.   I don't think that this is the truth at all.   Shannon's article made me realize how much I need to learn so that I can provide for my students, the opportunity to access the larger world around them and to encourage their own PLN's.

Question #2:  In what ways would it benefit students to foster their growth in developing their own PLN's?

Answer:  A large majority of the students at my site have had little exposure to anything outside their neighborhood block.  Even though the beach is less than a mile away, many of my students have never even put their feet in the ocean or walked the shore at low tide.  Experiences are what shape our thoughts perceptions and cognitive growth.  Students need to have experiences.  I see that there is a possibility, using Twitter as the vehicle, to help students access these experiences even if it is through the eyes of another person.  However, what if a student from Bishop California were to Tweet about his experiences of hiking through the Sierra Nevadas.  Maybe by reading this and seeing pictures, a student would become motivated to have that experience for him/herself.   The beauty of a PLN for a student, is that it becomes a global network of like peers. 

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Journal 3: Flipping the Classroom

Fulton, K. (2012). Upside down and inside out: Flip your classroom to improve student learning . Learning and leading with technology, 39(8), 12-14. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Upside_Down_and_Inside_Out.aspx

         Fulton's article introduces the concept of "flipped classrooms."  Simply described, students receive their initial instruction through videos created by their teachers.  When they arrive to school, they then apply that knowledge to the ssigned daily activities.  Fulton describes it as homework at school and school work at home.  The idea of flipped classrooms is a manifestation of school districts that were faced with the problem of no money in the budget for new or more updated and adequate textbooks.  Initial test score data indicates that this is having an overall positive impact on student learning. Teachers reported that, while it was an immense amount of work initially, the efforts have been rewarded.  The major drawbacks that implementing schools have  faced included: building trust with parents who found it hard to comprehend this as a legitimate form of instruction and the fact that this format does require students to dominate a large portion of the computer time, this is difficult for multiple student households.  The paradigm shift also produced the need for students to re-think their classroom roles and for teachers to re-structure their perspectives and approaches to classroom discipline.
While the delivery comes in a different package, I would venture to say that the flipped model, is not unlike my experiences in school as a student in the 70's and 80's where the instructions was assigned as a reading at home and then activities were followed up on the next day in class.  I think that teachers used this as a way to gauge interpretation of information and as a way of letting students develop a small sense of background knowledge to bring into the lesson.  However, I find it so interesting that this is the result of desperate times.  I also am fascinated how this change in teaching delivery model resulted in a positive increase in teacher/staff collaboration.  For the past 10 years, I have been involved in working with my site to increase collaboration efforts amongst staff as well as to build a collaborative culture into our school.  My particular emphasis and staff development is around collaboration between general education and special education teachers.  My work has been hard fought and many efforts have had to be made just to get people to acknowledge and speak to one another.  I feel that while my efforts have developed an overall forward progression, I know that the site is stagnate in its overall ability to implement forward thinking practices of more deliberate collaboration.  It is a fascinating observation to me that these school's seemed to transition more effectively and with an overall sense of integrity for success, based on the fact that this appeared as their only option.  I didn't see anything about anyone filing a grievance with their local teachers union in protest of the request to change!!

I see this as an excellent option for some of our "struggling learners" whose real "stuggle lies in the fact that they feel no connection to school.  I feel that education is misguided in thinking that those who are not showing success are struggling learners.  In my observation, these are the students who have not had a life full of many conections to anything.  School represents another place that really doesn't want them.  Three periods of six in a English class probably is not going to develop a love for learning! Also, every deemed "struggling learner" is not suffering from cognitive deficits but perhaps they are reacting to a lack of variety and challenge to their curriculum. 

Question #1: If I were to propose the idea of the  flipped classroom to my site, what would be the obstacles I would need to be immediately prepared to face?

Answer:  I always find that when preparing to introduce anything new to staff, I need to make an effort to initiate smaller conversations around the subject to get a feel for the overall thoughts.  I may find that several teachers and administrators agree that a flipped classroom would be a fabulous delivery option that we could offer.  I would like to encourage a small cohort of teachers to begin the implementation and a small group of students whom it is decided with a team, that this may create success for.  Each student considered would be a part of the team cohort planning as well.  Using Fulton's article as a guide, I would take example from the obstacles that the schools in the article faced and begin a pro-active approach to dealing with them.  My site would need to be able to open access to You Tube.  We would need to create a Moodle or Edmodo account for submission of assignments.  I would need to host and facilitate parent information meetings in Spanish and English to educate parents and to provide a forum to discuss concerns.  In addition, for my particular site, I would need to see if there was some way to get computers in the households of many of the students.  If not, them perhaps we could maintain an open lab?   I also think that because this model will place students in a less traditional atmosphere, we would need to consider weaving in some lessons on success strategies and self-advocacy.

Question#2: How would this flipped classroom approach meet the needs of my students whose first language is other than English?

Answer:  I do have a concern that without proper frontloading, many students who still do not maintain a proficiency in English, would struggle.  Students who are still learning English, may not have the resources at home to help them with understanding what they are listening to.  This is already a problem with the traditional model of teaching and the result is that students do not do their assignments.  I would think that when producing these lessons, it would be crucial that the needs of second language learners be considered.  I also think that as a mainstream teaching model, it should be considered that classes are heterogeneously mixed so that when there are collaborative opportunities the next day, students who are struggling have like peers to work with and help them to problem solve data.  in these class sessions, it would be my thought that some time is spent on providing students with vocabulary frontloading and background knowledge. 

Journal 2: School 2.0 Reflection Tool



NETS-2 Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments: I clearly am seeking direction in implementing this as a more effective part of my teaching practice to a higher level of competency and confidence.

Under the resource guidlines from NETS-2, #3 reads: I develop and use digital tools and resources to effectively differentiate content, process and product for students in order to meet their individual learning needs and preferences.

Upon clicking at the provided link, I found an amzing resource,  http;//udltechtoolkit.wikispaces.com.  UDL is an acronym for Universal Design Learning.  The purpose of UDL is to provide more variety and accessability to academic tasks for all students.  The home page provides links based on all content areas.  Within these content area links, I found so many exciting tools to assist my students, that I actually was wishing school was in session(briefly).  Especially exciting for me was the toolkit of ideas in the content area of study skills.  As a casemanager for students with mild/moderate and some moderate/severe students, I have always been on the hunt for activities and resources that will help my students to maintain a firm hold in their general education classes with their like peers.  Studying can be a painful task for students who struggle with developmental and/or processing delays.  Often times, the students that I work most closely with, begin to develop frustrations with their academics as they begin to notice that other students are able to get answers with more ease and can complete tasks in a shorter amount of time.  I need to increase my resources for different study tools.  Flashcards, for example, appear antiquated and childish to the student who at 12, is already on probation and academically fragile.  I found this great tool called HeadMagnet.  Students can create an account and then develop lists of things that they find difficult to remember and then the site works with them to improve their skills in remembering and memorizing this information!  Lists can be everything from vocabulary words to dates and times.  I could easily use this sit as a classroom tool in a Learning Center.  When students come into the Learning Center, I can have them spend time on the HeadMagnet website to practice math, language arts concepts and even input some social skills strategies if the student is on a behavior support plan!

Another benefit of the UDl site that I am so enthused about, is that is provides me an amazing opportunity to conduct some prefessional development for other staff on my site.  Many of my colleagues have not come to fully emabrace the idea of differentiation.  Many students I work with and casemanage struggle with classes due to the fact that their instructors are firmly set on not budging from their syllabus of ten years.  one of my jobs includes serving as an advocate for my students.  However, I do not find it an effective strategy, to approach a 'firmly gripped" staff member and yell at them that they need to modify their curriculum and to remind them of the federal laws around students with disabilities.  I can think it, but it doesn't really pull the action I need to see for the kids.  Alternatively, it is far more effective if I build upon my skills to "infiltrate from within" so to speak and to support my colleagues in perspective changing.  One of the best ways to do this is through the use of presentations at PLC meetings or staff development days.  I also like to arrange one-on-one meetings with more challenging staff members, bring their favorite lunch, and discuss ways to promote success for my students.  In this way, I discover that generally, their lack of flexibility is really due to a lack of knowledge or training in what to do.  This UDL Wiki, elates me as to the possibilities it provides to educate staff as well provide them easy, free tools.  I also ensure them that I will be in their rooms working right along side with them. 

I think that I may be growing a bit today in my friendship with technology!  I actually feel like I opened a present...A present that I have wanted.


          

Monday, July 9, 2012

Journal 1. 100 Things That Make Me Happy

1.  Vince
2. Brenden
3. Family
4. The spray of the ocean
5. My dog, Lemmey
6. An amazing sunset
7. Music
8. Double Chocolate Malted Crunch Ice Cream
9. My mother when she's laughing
10. When my dad tells stories
11. Those great laughing moments that bring me to tears
12. Spontaneous vacations
13. Witnessing random acts of kindness
14.  The feeling I have on hour after a good workout
15.  Junkfood day
16. Onion dip with ruffle chips
17.  Wine
18. Caprese salad
19. Mid-summer thunder storms
20. Palm Springs evenings
21. Winning at the Del Mar Racetrack
22. White Sangria at the beach
23.  Roasting turkey dogs at sunset on the beach
24. Spanish Haciendas
25. Expensive Furniture
26. Teal green sea water
27.  Finding a secret swimming hole
28.  Wine and french fries at Nepenthe
29. Charlie Parker blasting in the middle of the night in the car on a road trip
30. When the mean people are absent from work
31. My nephews interpretation of life
32. watching my son sing and play guitar in his band
33. When a student references something I taught more than a week ago
34. mashed potatoes
35. Fresh tomatoes off the vine
36. Volkswagen Bugs
37. Discovering treasure
38. Finding a shop with all kinds of random stuff in it
39. Honesty
40. Integrity
41. Hanging out on the evening porch and having conversation
42. Seeing whale flukes
43. Kickin it with the ole folks and listening to their stories
44. Watching dogs try to catch flies
45. Driving on the 395
46. Soaking in a natural hot spring
47. Watching red tail hawks swoop through the eucalyptus trees
48. daydreaming
49. The sound of quaking aspen trees when the wind goes through them
50. Floating down a river
51. swimming in the ocean
52. jumping into a cool pool on a hot day
53. The Grand Canyon
54. Yosemite
55. Jackson Hole Wyoming
56. Glacier Park Montana
57. Randon treks through San Francisco
58. God
59. Meditation
60. bean Cheese and rice burritos
61. Fresh clean sheets
62.  A shower after a week of camping
63. Warm water
64. rivers with a flat rock in the middle of it that I can sit on
65. Baby giraffes
66. Clothes shopping
67. Chocolate cake
68. red, orange, pink afternoon light shinning through the leaves
69. Grandparents
70. People with a sense of humor
71. Finding money unexpectedly
72. An afternoon nap
73. Hassle free days
75. Dancing
76. Singing
77. sleeping babies
78. Seeing a student gain success
79. The day before winter break
80. Fireworks
81. Boat rides
82. Cozy rainy days
83. Sierra Nevada Mountains
84. Knowing everyone is safe
85. Picnics by a river, in a meadow or oasis
86. Halibut
87. Fresh berries
88. Cantalope
89. Coffee
90. Tea
91. The sound of the waves
92. Fiestas
93. When something difficult is over
94.  Being able to forgive
95. Being able to help someone
96. Grocery shopping
97. Hiking
98. Salty Caramel Ice Cream
99. Gardens
100. Every day I wake up to a new day!