EdTechspiration

Helping teachers prepare students for tomorrow, today.

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Fun, Quick Activity to Get Students to Think Critically

Here is a fun, quick activity to get students to think  critically. Although this is an ELA example, it can be done with any sufficient selection of text.

Paste an entire chapter of text into Wordle. For this activity, I chose Chapter 5 of The Great Gatsby. Then generate the Wordle or have your students each generate a Wordle depending on your access to technology.

Cha 5 of The Great Gatsby

The students have to then answer or do the following:

  • Why do you think that the Wordle emphasized certain words? How is this relevant to the chapter?
  • What words do you think were left out or not emphasized enough? Why?
  • What words do you think were over represented or that you might have left out based on what you read in the chapter? Which words are not important?
  • Create your own Wordle by drawing or typing the words that you think are important based on what you read in the chapter. Be prepared to expand upon or defend your choices.

This can be done as an assignment, a reflective activity, or as a pre-reading strategy (students do the later steps as they read along.)

The cool thing is even though it involves tech, the final product doesn’t have to involve tech, it can also be done by hand. What is important is that the student has an opportunity to evaluate and explain his or her thought process.

Be sure to have a little fun with this, Old Sport! 🙂

 

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PBL is more than just #EdTech

I was touring our campuses today and stumbled across a group of middle school students working on their catapult projects. PBL more than just EdTechSpeaking with these students reminded me that Project Based Learning has been around for quite a while and it involves much more than just #EdTech. These students were actively involved in improving their designs to make their catapults shoot further. This was your typical “dad made” type of project. (I apologize to any moms who have made these.) However, the students were not only able to articulate how it worked, they were making adjustments on the fly.

I asked what they were learning. The boys responded, “I think it has something to do with writing lab reports.”  “No, no, no!” one of the girls interrupted, “Its about Newton’s laws. We have to write up how the laws work with the catapult. You know, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Things in motion tend to stay in motion. Things at rest, tend to stay at rest. That stuff.”

IMG_1328Clearly the group of girls had a firmer grasp on the assignment than the group of boys, which was fun. They also had the better catapult. One of the two groups of girls had a catapult with a high tension spring and a trigger mechanism to keep them safe. (Great features, Dad.) Though not as fancy as the sleek, black catapult IMG_1329built by the boys, theirs out performed it, throwing more than 3 times the distance. (Go Girls!)

The main point is that the students were learning in a collaborative environment which encouraged risk taking and innovation. They received help from home, but then made adjustments in their design in order to be competitive. They could also articulate at least some if not all of the instructional objectives related to the project. All in all, a great example of simple project based learning. As for the technology, well, even medieval technology can promote learning when properly applied!

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ILD: Reflections from the TEC

I’m taking my ILD course to earn a mid management (principal) certification in Texas. As part of one of the assignments, I had to reflect on parts of the Texas Education Code. The section below contains my reflections.

 

Reflections on the Texas Education Code

Campus Planning and Decision-Making TEC 11.253, 11.254

The mandate that each school creates and uses a site-based decision-making committee supports student achievement by democratizing, at least to some extent, the critical decisions a campus makes to promote student achievement, involving representative stakeholders from among teachers, parents, administration and the community. The committee is charged with developing a campus improvement plan that outlines goals to promote student achievement and ties them to financial and personnel resources and mandates that schools measures progress toward the achievement of these goals. To the extent that a school uses this system with fidelity, the obvious benefits of having SMART goals, measurable progress, multiple sources of data, and stakeholder input will augment and focus the school’s efforts to be more successful.

 

Teacher Appraisal TEC 21.351, 21.352 and  Administrator Appraisal TEC 21.354

The teacher and administrator appraisal system is quite simply a means by which the SBOE attempts to make sure that our students have the highest quality teachers and administrators working to promote student achievement. This area is fraught with political and ideological controversy, which is not surprising given how vague this section of the TEC outlines expectations for districts. However, Texas has a long tradition of respecting LEAs and the wording of this section may be a reflection of that philosophy.

 

Professional Development TEC 21.451 and Assessment of Academic Skills 39.023, 39.0231, 39.024

The professional development section of the TEC is short and sweet. It directly states that the goal of PD is to improve education in the district, thus supporting student achievement. The LEA is able to determine the focus of PD as it relates to the needs of students in their district, but the SBOE does provide suggestions including technology, classroom management or working with students with disabilities. The SBOE does state that professional development may not violate the law, including Supreme Court rulings.

 

Standardized testing is a highly political issue with opinions ranging from the US Dept. of Education and NCLB to local groups of parents who believe it is legal for them to have their children “opt out” of standardized testing all together. Not surprisingly, this section of the TEC is very detailed. By carefully outlining requirements for standardized testing, the SBOE supports student achievement by creating a set of criteria for the whole state to aspire toward achieving. If each LEA were allowed to develop its own criteria, as in the case of the recent survey requirements of HB 5, then all districts would be highly rated, even if the students were genuinely struggling in a district with little or no educational supports. Obviously, standardized testing can be overly used and emphasized. Finding an optimal balance that supports achievement, satisfies national and state legislators, and allows students and teachers to focus on learning the goals and objectives in the TEKS rather than “teaching to the test” is something that we have yet to find.

 

Curriculum/TEKS 28.001, 28.002

This section of the TAC provides the “nuts and bolts” that guides what is being taught in classrooms across the state. This section provides general subject area requirements which are then further specified into a series of goals, objectives, and performance indicators for every class taught in the state. This section outlines not only core academic subjects that must be taught, but also elective and enrichment courses designed to help students develop into well rounded adults. A series of clarifications follow which further state that districts may allow for independent study, substitue ASL as a foreign language, provide for daily physical activity, and provide Career and Technology Education, to name a few.

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Preconceived Stereotypes in Training

With all the discussion in the media lately about prejudice, racism and bias, I thought it might be good to reflect on my own biases and preconceived notions when training others. The longer I work with groups of people the easier it is to develop preconceived notions. For technology training it’s not so much about race or gender as it is age. I’ve always assumed that if you remember 8 track tapes (like me), then you will have a harder time or even be resistant to #EdTech professional development.

8 Track Tapes

Raise your hand if you know what this is?

A couple of weeks ago, I was conducting a training in Kansas to a group of teachers new to #EdTech in general. They had been issued their devices a week prior and my task was to help bring them up to speed. In this particular group of teachers was a veteran teacher of 52 years in the classroom. He sat up front next to his principal. I immediately identified him in my mind as a person likely in need of some additional assistance. To be honest, I had already decided that what he gets from our training might be very limited. He’s significantly older and that automatically means he will struggle and perhaps give up in frustration.

For the record… I was totally wrong!

This gentleman was a delight and continues to be an inspiration to me personally. Yes, he struggled. What’s amazing is that he never wavered. He never said, “I can’t do it.” He never let the person next to him “take over” and do things for him. He never gave up.

As he left the training room, he took time to thank me and let me know how much he enjoyed it. The last thing he said to me was, “I don’t have all this down right now, but if you come back in a year, I’ll be great at it!”

This experience reminded me that people can continue to surprise, challenge, educate and even delight you. It’s one of the most enjoyable aspects of training and teaching in general. I can only hope and pray that after 52 years in the business to still have such an amazing attitude and enthusiasm about learning.

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