Finding Your School's Meaningful Language

Lately, our school has been revamping, rewriting and rethinking our student/parent handbook. This has led to some really great conversations that have shown the need to open the door for even more conversations...which I feel is always a good thing. The more voices, both horizontally and vertically within, and best practice viewpoints outside your district, the better the chance to get to a place where all can either "agree on" or "agree to disagree and strategize for the common good." I'm thankful for this period of uncomfortableness and for pushback. I'm thankful to be heard and to be in community to listen to other viewpoints.

During this time of decisions within our technology department I am also dealing with a dog in a halo cone due to surgery (innovation that is a disruption to reach a future goal) and a book that is helping me sift through my thoughts on analog behaviors (our desire as a human race to use all our senses and experience realness). Lump that with having the opportunity to hear Heidi Hayes Jacobs speak at Covenant College last week on the essential question of "How can we prepare our learners for their future?" and my mind is working 90 mph at any given moment with the feeling of conflicting ideas surging through me looking for resolution. I'll be honest, I love it.

One of the things I don't do well as an instructional technologist is assuring others that I am not trying to radically change every classroom in the world. I am just so passionate about what I learn about and the future possibilities I see that I come across sometimes as being a techno-fanatic. I can guarantee you that if you don't work hand in hand with me, you probably have thought that, and as much as I have tried to temper that opinion over the last few years, I do get excited when I see tools evolve that can make a difference in education. Right now I am über excited about two things:

• Next generation chromebooks with touchscreen and the ability to run android apps.
• Paper or paper-like options for computer input that is becoming reasonably cost efficient. 

Forgive me, I digress into a potential future blog post but I share that to say, that's how my mind works. You tell me things you want to do and I am looking towards the future of what that will one day look like. I look for streamlining of tasks, blending of current good pedagogy with contemporary technology tools, and creating a culture of future readiness for our students in a world where the job they may work in does not currently exist. I do get passionate about that, sometimes to a fault.  And that is where Heidi Hayes Jacobs put into words what I sometimes fail to communicate when I am talking with teachers. She has a cut the chase type behavior that makes me envious. She very succinctly shared that pedagogy falls into 3 categories: Antiquated, Classical, and Contemporary.

I love the wording of this. Much to my chagrin, this is what I've been trying to say but I often fill the void with too many words or with too strong of words regarding contemporary. There are things that are outdated or unneeded that we need to cut in our classrooms, there are things that are enduring/essential or well done in our classroom that do not need to be done away with, and there are things that are being created or learned that we need to create in the spaces of our classrooms. Three distinct categories of pedagogy that allow us to sort, filter, and critically look at options, opportunities, growth, AND stability. 

Words matter. As we discussed these 3 words this week, we realized that defining words are important for a sense of cohesiveness. Classical doesn't mean "classical education practices" in this case. We can't allow educational buzzwords to derail us from having a growth mindset. It is my desire to become better at defining words I use and asking others about their words. Assumptions cause us to posture around each other with no moving forward. Creating a culture of safety both horizontally and vertically in a district allows people to feel comfortable to share their views, concerns, and goals. It also allows us all to get to a place where we realize that all disciplines bring value to the conversation of how to best teach students. Feeling valued doesn't mean always getting our way but that you are respected for what you bring to the table. 

As we move forward to both define what our goals are for a graduating student from our school system, we must also realize that expectations from each curricular discipline looks different due to standards, best practice, and prior experiences. Finding meaningful language helps define the culture, expectations, and future of both the educator and student subcultures within a district. Finding how to mold that language based on input from a variety within the constituency creates common vision and buy-in to best answer that essential question Heidi Hayes Jacobs started with:  "How can we prepare our learners for their future?"

What Should First Year Teachers Know About Tech Integration?

I recently participated in a #TnTechChat Twitter chat moderated by @TeachTnTech regarding Technology skills needed in preservice teachers. For many of us in the chat we felt that new teachers are not necessarily entering the workforce equipped for a tech-rich classroom. There were a few higher education professors in the discussion that gave a bit of insight into how slowly changes in curriculum often happen in higher Ed courses.

At the end of the chat I shared the following tweet: "I know I'm biased but I think teacher prep students should be aware of blended learning, value of PLN and recent buzzwords to explore." Apparently this tweet resonated with many educators on Twitter because it got an over abundance of love. As this week has progressed I find myself thinking on the subject a lot, and this blog post is a more thought out list of technology knowledge I think preservice teachers should be aware of before entering the workforce:

Blended learning. Technology allows for teachers to have more small group and one on one instruction, something all teachers find value in. Understanding the dynamics, classroom management and benefits of blended learning needs to be on the new teacher's radar.

Technology-based formative assessment options. For centuries teachers have learned the value of formative assessment. Whether it be on the slate or white board or just casual questioning, all teachers love the ability to have feedback after a lesson. There are many different ways teachers can now easily ascertain in real time the learning happening in the classroom. Apps and websites like Kahoot, Socrative, Go Formative, or using school-based LMS quiz solutions allows for more knowledge based on individualized students. I believe this is a game changer for education and can't be ignored.

The value of professional learning networks (PLNs). The collaborative value that Twitter, Google plus, CoffeeEDUs and various other educational online communities bring is invaluable. It should be part of the curriculum for a preservice teacher to learn how to leverage these PLNs for their future learning when they are out of the classroom as a student. PLN's are a great way for teachers to remain lifelong learners.

Buzzwords. I'll be honest this is the one that I have mixed reviews on. I don't believe that every buzzword should be adopted or even considered in every school, I also realize buzzwords don't necessarily have any proof of their effectiveness. I do believe pedagogy trumps technology every day of the week and that technology should never lead instruction. That being said, I also think there is great value in new educators at least being aware of recent buzzword initiatives in education. This hit me at an Edcamp last year when topics of discussion were listed on the board and hands went up all over the room asking things like "what's a makerspace?", "what's augmented reality?", "what does PBL stand for?" While any school they go to may not implement any of those buzzwords, they need to know they exist; and maybe even the pros and cons of these different  teaching methods and tools.

Classroom management skills for a tech-rich environment. I believe a new teacher should enter the work place with lots of ideas to keep students on task, engaged, and learning when technology is present. I think teachers also should have a plan of what to do for off-task students- knowing that individual schools might have their own set of standards of expectation.

How to read website and app data retrieved from student learning and how to value that timely information. So many teachers grade papers for hours on end. As a rule we know this has been a major component of a teacher's day. Technology can change this. If students are using technology such as adaptive learning software options, teachers now will spend less time grading papers but must spend their evenings looking at the results in the technology-based learning. This is a change in teacher culture. If teachers aren't careful, technology stations in a classroom just becomes a thing to do. If we aren't looking at results for assessment purposes, the chances of it being valuable use of instruction time is small.

Experience with someone modeling good technology integration in the classroom. Many times teacher placements happen where preservice teachers never have the opportunity to work in a classroom with much technology or with a mentor teacher that values it. This may be my most aggressive point but I believe every preservice teacher should have one placement that allows them to see what good technology integration looks like. I believe it must be an expectation of the mentor teacher as well.

Technology in the classroom is not going away, in fact companies like Google and Apple are creating opportunities directly for education. As time goes on more and more ways to meet student needs via technology shows positive learning results are happening. Ignoring this side of prepping teachers is not a future ready mindset. We must grow forward to best equipped these future educational technology leaders.