The Rover Chronicles: Tech Challenges

I’m a Rover. 

No not that kind of Rover.  I’m a teacher without a permanent home, who travels from classroom to classroom with all of my stuff on a cart.  So what kind of challenges come with being a rover?  Well first of all at the beginning of each day everything you need MUST be on that cart.  That includes handouts, graded papers, office supplies and most important my portable hard drive.  I don’t have the option of running back to the office to grab something I forgot, so that means I must get in early to prepare for my day.

Being a rover has its perks.  It has forced me to become highly organized.  I travel on a cart, there is absolutely no room to be messy.  It has also forced me to develop a daily routine for my students.  I am required to write clear class objectives on the board at the beginning of each class.  I also need to log on the computer, take attendance, and set up the SmartBoard to prepare for our lesson.  

Before I developed a routine this meant that my students sat talking for 10 minutes as I prepared for the class.  I realized that I was wasting valuable class time with my students while they waited as I set up.  So, I developed a routine.  Using the technology that is available in our classroom, I was able to simply tell them to log on to the day’s discussion board and read an article I posted for their response, answer discussion board questions about a previous lesson, or use todaysmeet.com to comment on a current events topic.  We also used an online stock market game, which was a good activity for my students be engaged as I prepared for our lesson.

https://todaysmeet.com

I am currently taking a course Technology for Administrators at Regent University.  In the past couple of weeks I have opened my first Twitter account, participated in my first Twitter Chat, started my own online Blog, and learned to create an online Screencast.  I plan to use all of these wonderful resources to further engage my students in activities where they can self-start and work at their own pace. 

Are you a Rover?  Well here’s a few pieces of advice:

• Have an external hard drive where you save all of your documents.  While most schools have a shared drive that teachers use, sometimes documents disappear.  Having a portable hard drive ensures you always have your documents in every classroom.  I like the Toshiba Canvio which I purchased on amazon at the advice of a veteran educator.

Toshiba Canvio Connect External Hard Drive

• Back up your hard drive on Google Drive.  This is very important!!!!  I have seen many teachers lose their life’s work because they lost their hard drive, or it stopped working.  Backing it up on Google Drive protects you against document loss, and if you forget your hard drive at home you simply log in to Gmail and have all your documents available wherever you are.

Want to learn more about Google Drive?  Click the link below:

https://support.google.com/a/answer/2490026?hl=en

• Ask your IT support person or Administrator if there is an IPAD available for you to use.It is easy to carry around and can be a faster alternative than logging onto different computers to take attendance, post discussion board questions, or do anything else that you need to do online to get students started.
  

While being a Rover isn’t an ideal situation by any means, it has helped me develop activities and routines for my students that ensure that we aren’t wasting valuable class time.  It has also forced me to become creative and developing activities that enable my students to learn to become self-starters and work independently.

Pinterest has some great ideas for Rovers, you will need to create an account.
https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=floating%20teacher

Happy Roving!

Why E-PLC?

As a new teacher teaching Economics and Personal Finance (which is now a graduation requirement in the state of Virginia), I was happy to know that my school had a PLC.  A PLC gives educators the opportunity to support each other, collaborate, share best practices, and review and compare student data and progress.  I was looking forward to sharing the great lesson plans I had developed over the summer as well as getting valuable input and ideas from veteran teachers.

What is a PLC?

“PLCs provide a structure for collaboration with colleagues and continual teacher growth and development. A typical PLC framework is embedded into the school day and facilitated by teachers or teacher support staff such as instructional coaches or curriculum facilitators”(UNC School of Education).

This PLC is having way too much fun, or maybe I'm just jealous :)

My First PLC Experience

We met every Wednesday, the meetings lasted anywhere from 1 hour to 1.5 hours.  We usually were given photocopies of lesson plan ideas (very wastefulL), and common benchmark examinations that were used by the entire department.  We talked very little about new ways to approach lessons or evaluating progress of our students (especially SPED and ELL). 

This is when I started to think about how we could improve our PLC by moving to E-PLC’s.

Why E-PLC

1. Save the trees!  It is common for our traditional PLC’s to use a great deal of handouts, with E-PLC’s we can share documents and print only what we will use.
2. Greater collaboration and easily share lesson plan ideas – Educators can collaborate and share from a great variety of resources such as YouTube and GoogleDocs using technology such as LiveBinders.
   
3. Encourage effective use of Technology – E-PLC’s provide a forum where educators who may be more reluctant to use evolving technology will feel more comfortable and maybe even encouraged to use technology with their students.
4. Use apps such as Twitter and Pinterest – Apps like Twitter and Pinterest enable educators to expand their professional learning community, the ability to learn from and share with experts and educators from around the world.
   
5. Ease of sharing data – Collaborators have the ability to review and  compare student data and progress using Google Classroom.
6. Better time management – Educators will not have to sit in on traditional meetings and can have more time for grading and planning.  Group members can share via self-created webcasts where others are able to access at their own leisure.
   
7. Online learning opportunities – PLC’s can access online chats, seminars, and courses from wherever they are.  Each PLC member can become the expert on a specific topic and share with the rest of the group.  
8. Improved access to information -  This is especially important for new teachers to the department; resources and information will be easily accessible from school or at home.
   

 I am happy to report that I have introduced the idea of an E-PLC to my colleagues and they have been very receptive.  I have began to develop Livebinders for each unit that we will cover; where videos, powerpoints, lesson plans, and handouts will be accessible all in one place. 

We will probably move toward an E-PLC model for the upcoming school year, and I am excited to see how it develops.  While there is value in having face to face meetings with your PLC, E-PLC’s are an excellent way to enhance collaboration and share new ways to keep our students engaged. 

About LiveBinders

“We created LiveBinders so that you could do with digital information what you do with the piles of papers on your desk - organize them into nice presentable containers - like 3-ring binders on your shelf.

With our online binders you can combine all of your cloud documents, website links and upload your desktop documents - to then easily access, share, and update your binders from anywhere.” Livebinders.com

·         See more at http://www.livebinders.com/welcome/about

·         Check out a livebinder in progress!

Renting and Purchasing a Home

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_shared_binder/1702010?play_view=play

access key: easonepf

·         If you are interested in learning about how you can join or develop an online learning communities here are some resources:

o   Building and Maintaining an Online Professional Learning Community, UNC School of Education

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/7012

o   Teachability – Teacher community for sharing ideas, advice, strategies, and more…

http://www.Teachability.com

o   Pinterest – Professional Learning Communities (please note: requires you to create a log-in)

     https://www.pinterest.com/explore/professional-learning-communities/

Teaching 21st Century Skills and Addressing Limited Access to Technology

http://fargopublicschools.areavoices.com/files/2014/09/21st-Century-Skills-4-Cs-graphic.jpg

      When I began my teaching license coursework as a career switcher there was a great deal to learn in a small amount of time.  As I began to feel overwhelmed with all the acronyms and terms that were very new to me I decided that I needed to focus on some key take aways that would get me through my first year as a high school teacher.  Three of the things I decided to focus on were:

·         Prepare students for college and beyond by focusing on 21^st century skills.  The National Education Association (n.d) stresses the importance of the 4 C’s; critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity.  According to a 2010 study by the American Management Association, 75.7% of executives reported that these skills will become more important to organizations in the near future.  As I was meeting my 11^th and 12^th graders at a critical time in their lives where important decisions would be made such as college and career goals, I needed to make sure they were being adequately prepared to meet challenges they would face.

·         Make content relevant; students need to feel that what they are learning in my classroom is useful.  If they don’t see the value, they will not value their time in our classroom.

·         Engage families as much as possible in their students learning.  In high school this can become difficult, so using technology to engage families but also being sensitive to the fact that many homes may lack computers or internet access. 

After I decided on focusing on these areas, it became easier for me to prepare and plan.  As I saw how much technology was out there it became  easier to engage my students.  The biggest challenge was how to ensure that parents became engaged in their students learning. 

The focus on 21^st century learning challenges teachers to focus on interdisciplinary skills that allow students to keep up with modern advancements in education.  For example, with new technology students learn differently than they did in the past.  However, the reality is that all students do not have equal access with the technology necessary to reinforce 21^st century skills.  

According to the National Education Association (n.d.), “the number of students leaving K-12 schools and districts with effective critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity skills,.. is very uneven”.  Some of the disparity may be credited to lack of access to technology in the home.  Some of my students do not have a computer or internet connectivity at home, and in this area it is very difficult to get to a public library.  Since there are computers in my classroom, I try to ensure that students take advantage of class time to work with technology.

While the NEA stresses the responsibility teachers have to make sure students are prepared with the 4’C’s, I believe it is equally important to let parents know they have a responsibility as well.  Teachers and administration can communicate to parents the importance of these skills and provide examples of ways they can help their child develop these important skills.  It is important that teachers have an awareness that there are homes without internet access, some parents do not know how to use technology, or there may be a language barrier. 

I found a helpful document online titled 21st Century Skills at Home, which provides examples of how the  Fairfax County School District is encouraging parents to help their child develop these valuable skills (fcps.edu, 2013). 

Shaping 21st Century Learning Experiences at Home 

Fairfax County provides parents with ideas that develop the 4 C’s skills, which can be used with or without technology.  Some of these include writing to pen pals, creating a game and writing the instructions, using google earth to plan a family vacation, and virtual field trips. A viable option I have used in my classroom if there is no computer access at home is to simply encourage students to engage family members in conversations about subject material and come back and discuss.  This is a great way to engage parents and help them feel that their input is valued as well as keep them informed about what their students are learning.  While I have a responsibility to my students to help develop their 21^st Century skills, I have also learned the importance of partnering with parents and families to ensure that their students are adequately prepared for higher education and future careers.

References

Fairfax County Public Schools.  (2013).  2013 FCPS Education Summit: Shaping 21st CenturySkills at Home.

 Retrieved from http://www.fcps.edu/news/summit/2013/presentation/shaping/shaping-21st-            presentation.pdf

National Educators Association.  (n.d.).  Preparing 21^st Century Students for a Global Society:

An Educator’s Guide to the Four C’s.

Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/A-Guide-to-Four-Cs.pdf

So I need to write a blog!

So initially I didn’t start writing this blog because I have amazing ideas that I want to share with the world that I couldn’t wait to get out; but because I need to do it as an assignment for a course I am taking.  After all, aren’t bloggers people who love to write, people who are creative and innovative, people who are good at accepting criticism and comments that challenge their ideas? 

Absolutely not!  I am a now a Blogger.  A regular person, who has never been especially talented at anything except for helping people.  A regular person, who is not very creative but is a quick learner and a hard worker.  A regular person, who used to love to write, but then life happened.

So where do I begin?  Well I will tell you who I am.  I am a wife, a mom, and a teacher.  I am a student at Regent University’s Administration and Leadership program.  I believe I have what it takes to pursue an administrator role and so did the Admissions Office at Regent J  I have five children.  I have been involved in schools as a parent, PTA volunteer, basketball coach, worked as a School Secretary, served as the Chairperson on the Principal’s Advisory Council, and now I am a High School Business Education teacher.  My experiences have prepared me well, enabling me to take the next step as an administrator.  I hope to provide leadership that is collaborative and promotes an environment where students are genuinely motivated to learn, not because they have to pass SOL exams, but because they want to genuinely LEARN.

So my first blogging assignment is to write about technology trends in Education.  As I continue to type I am not seeing this as an assignment anymore.  I am actually enjoying this!  Just recently I have entered the world of Twitter.  Honestly, I was a little apprehensive about creating a Twitter profile.  I call my daughters and ask “What is a hashtag?”  Help!!!  Why does Twitter move so fast?  Am I doing this right?  Some of my course mates seemed just as confused.  We helped each other through our first twitter chats and I think I’m actually getting the hang of it!

Since becoming a teacher I have been very careful to keep my social media presence very private.  My students have mentioned that they have tried to find me on social media.  I was actually happy when they said they were unable to find me.  I value my privacy and don’t believe my whole life needs to be an open book to colleagues and students.  However my ideas about how private I need to be are changing and I realize I don’t need to be a closed book and I can find a happy medium. 

In the short weeks I have been taking my class, I have learned the importance of having a social media presence.  Sharing ideas with other educators, and even using social media to reach and interact with my students are an essential part of becoming an engaged educator; and social media provides an excellent forum to connect with people I would otherwise not be able to connect with.     

So as an experiment today I googled myself.  The only thing that comes up in a picture from my old job, in my old life as a Financial Analyst.  The last thing I want is for someone to google me and not see who I am now.  I am a wife, mom of five, a volunteer, and an Educator (a job I love). 

 

I love who I am now and am ready to share that with the world.