What Could You Accomplish with 160 Extra Hours?

The Gift of Time: Image Credit

Ask any teacher what their greatest need is and many will respond: TIME! As curriculum demands increase, classrooms become more diverse, testing and test prep take increasingly more time, and schools move toward 1:1 technology adoption, teachers report not having time to fit everything into their day.

At the same time teacher contracts vary in number of months teachers are under contract. Some schools offer 9 month contracts, some 10 months, some 12 months. New teachers wonder how they should best use those summer months.  While those two months of summer can initially seem like a long time, without setting goals and implementing effective time management those two months can fly by quickly.

Just this year a preservice teacher graduated in December and began teaching in January. She jumped in and learned a new way of teaching with Project-Based Learning. When the school year ended, a wise school administrator interpreted this new teacher's 12 month contract to help her plan her summer. June is a month off for relaxation and enjoyment. In July teachers were expected to work 40 hour weeks on topics of their choosing. Teachers participated in a type of Genius Hour where they were "empowered to explore their own passions." Each teacher could read, blog, tweet, code, or create whatever they wanted to do to grow as an educator. What would you do with 160 hours outside of the school year to accomplish whatever you wanted?

Blog, Tweet, Connect: Image Credit

This preservice teacher began reading books her students would enjoy and then blogged her reactions to each. Now when students return they can go to their teacher's blog to get ideas about books they may like to read, and blog about them! She also began connecting with other educators online. She took a big step and made her blog a public blog so her amazing ideas can be gleaned by others. This new teacher also explored Project-Based Learning more deeply as she began to think about possible projects to help her students meet learning goals this year. She will empower students to ask questions, search online, evaluate information, and communicate learning by creating a project that makes a difference in the world.

In August all teachers at this school come together for collaborative workshops on this school's unique Project-Based Learning teaching format. I really like this school's creative summer plan: June off, July Genius Hour individual choice, and August collaborative staff learning. I think this teacher, beginning her first full year of teaching this fall, will be ready to share her learning with her students when they arrive in September. After experiencing herself how to learn individually and collaboratively, she will be more comfortable empowering her students to learn in similar ways.

As I calculate there are approximately 4 weeks until students return to school. What will you do with these 160 hours to grow as an educator? Please share what you do with us, and with your students! Have fun!

Six Reasons Teachers Should Collaborate

Collaborating to help students: Image credit

I have been coaching preservice teachers and their cooperating teachers in new literacies integration for several years, and I still marvel when I see effective collaboration! I love to see teachers and preservice teachers working together to improve student learning by creating collaborative networks. Guy Trainin and I are working on an article looking at collaborative patterns and learning how resourceful, motivated teachers seek out the specialists they need to make learning happen for students. And just this afternoon I participated in an #edchat where we looked at the need for increased opportunities for collaboration among teachers, preservice teachers, and students. We decided that collaboration and technology must be valued, taught, and resourced; and 21st century pedagogy must be included in Teacher Education.

I share six reasons why teachers should collaborate and challenge you to consider ways you can model collaboration for your students and student teachers.

1. ISTE Standards for Teachers says that all teachers should posess 21st century skills to learn, teach, and work in the digital age. To model digital age work and learning for students teachers need to "collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support students success and innovation." 

2. Share Expertise. Using Collaborative Inquiry teachers can plan, teach, and reflect with preservice teachers, paras, and other teachers. Team teaching makes it possible for multiple educators to work together to assist with technology, pedagogy, and content. 

3. Save Time. Collaborating online using Google Docs or other collaborative tools allows grade-level teachers to each plan one lesson and end up with a complete unit as each teacher adds a lesson. After experiencing this process themselves teachers can empower students to write and discuss

Global Collaboration: Image Credit

collaboratively online.

4. Get Global Input. Asking questions in a collaborative online network can bring insights from educators across the state, the country, or around the world at any time. Connect with authors, scholars, or classroom teachers to plan activities for students to connect and learn globally.

5. Model for Preservice Teachers. Modeling collaboration for new teachers broadens their pedagogical content knowledge. It helps them participate in school PLCs and social media PLNs. Preservice teachers learn that to effectively integrate new literacies they need to collaborate with others for ideas and assistance.

6. It's Fun! We can accomplish more together than we can individually. As technology changes rapidly, new devices, apps and websites will be difficult to keep up with alone. But collaboratively we can share ideas, student projects, and feedback to be effective teachers in the 21st century.

What Can We Learn from AIRBNB to Prepare Students to Lead in the 21st Century

As educators we know that we are preparing our students for jobs that either do not exist today or will be siginificantly different in the near future. I recently read Fortune's 7.1.15 article on The Education of Brian Chesky.  Chesky and friend Joe Gebbia were unemployed without enough money to pay their rent when they decided to sell sleeping space in their apartment to trade show attendees. They put air mattresses on the floor, called it the Air Bed and Breakfast, and three guests stayed in the extra space. The design trade show heard about this unique arrangement and blogged about it stirring up interest. They expanded the site to allow others to rent out space in their homes before becoming AIRBNB where today you can rent "unique places to stay from local hosts in 190+ countries".  40 million people rented AIRBNB locations between its beginning in 2008 and today, valuing the company at $24 billion. How did this rapid business growth happen for a 33 year old new CEO? And how can this example of necessary 21st century skills inform the way we teach students?

In the article, Brian Chesky describes himself as "intense, focused, and really, really, really curious" (Fortune, p.95). Initially he needed to be able to generate a solution to his problem. He needed rent money, he knew there was a need for housing during the trade show, he evaluated his unused floor space, and he quickly devised a plan. What teaching strategies help students learn these necessary 21st century skills? How can we build upon natural curiosity to empower students to investigate, think strategically, generate solutions, in a rapid progression?

Chesky needed additional skills to build his company. Using technology, he researched deeply to find the top expert in each required area then contacted these high level leaders to seek advice by "hacking leadership." He located investors to launch the business, divided management and technology demands between leaders, and dealt with issues quickly as they arose. Because this was a new business AIRBNB encountered problems they could not anticipate in advance so the ability to quickly analyze, evaluate, seek expert advice, and act made Chesky's company surge. Decisions need to constantly be made about hiring, firing, marketing, and expanding worldwide. Companies today are global and those who manage them effectively must think globally.

Knowing these are the skills needed in business today, how can we best prepare students to effectively lead? We must empower them to ask questions, find answers, contact experts, evaluate options, synthesize information, think globally, make strategic plans and decisions, and accomplish this in a rapidly changing technological world. Teaching methods that focus on student-directed active learning can increase student curiosity and ability to solve problems.

1. Makerspaces build upon student interest and allow them to make, share, collaborate and reflect upon their learning attempts. Creating an area in the classroom filled with a variety of items students can take apart, build, and experiment with encourages curiosity.

2. Project-based learning begins with a real-world problem that students attempt to solve through sustained inquiry. Students evaluate each attempt, reflecting upon what is needed to make it even more effective, before creating the next project. Projects are shared publically with the goal of improving living conditions.

3. STEAM encourages students to integrate science, technology, engineering, art, and math to focus on the learning process as much as the product. They try multiple ideas by sketching, building, evaluating, and documenting real-life learning.

4. Video Conferencing brings students in contact with experts and learners globally. Many projects can be completed collaboratively online today including blogging, discussions, labs, interviews, and guest lectures. Mystery Skypes can connect two classrooms in a fun way by asking yes and no questions to determine location. Teachers can then have students in these classrooms collaborate for further learning and feedback in authentic contexts.

Excited about preparing teachers for 21st century classrooms and careers!



"Brian Chesky" by LeWEB12 (OFFICIAL LeWEB PHOTOS) - Cropped from http://www.flickr.com/photos/leweb3/6477359505/. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brian_Chesky.jpg#/media/File:Brian_Chesky.jpg

Gallagher, L. The education of Brian Chesky. Fortune, July 1, 2015, pp. 92-100.

The Power of a Professional Learning Network

This week I attended the TEC21 Facilitator's Academy at Concordia University, Nebraska. The mission of TEC21 is to coach teachers to facilitate technology-enriched classrooms for 21st century learners. This group of connected educators share a passion for connecting teachers in Lutheran schools as we integrate technology in creative ways. We form a Professional Learning Network of support, encouragement, assistance, and accountability.

A professional learning network is "a vibrant, ever-changing group of connections to which teachers go to both share and learn. These groups reflect our values, passions, and areas of expertise" (Education Week Teacher, December 31, 2014). Our TEC21 PLN is truly a vibrant and ever-changing group. We welcomed six new facilitators for the coming year so we are now a Professional Learning Network of fourteen. This year we will serve over 100 teachers, in 21 centers throughout 10 states from California to Michigan. One facilitator will be leaving to teach in Shanghai soon, yet he still joined us via Google Hangout to participate, share resources, and lead sessions. We share our expertise with each other knowing that collaboratively we can accomplish more than is possible individually. We both shared and learned during an Edcamp format allowing each facilitator to select areas of interest to lead or attend.

This PLN meets monthly online via WebEx to connect, share new ideas, plan workshop agendas, and reflect. We experience in our PLN the dynamic we then create in our teacher groups. We build relationships, establish trust, present new ideas, and provide support and encouragment to help each other grow. During the school year we present ideas then coach teachers to apply them to curriculum. Teachers are energized, classrooms are innovative, and students learn in engaged ways!

My PLN expands even further to include Tech EDGE partners, UNL and Concordia colleagues, classroom teachers with whom I work, preservice teachers, and hundreds of professionals from around the world online via Twitter and Google+. Each of these persons shares ideas and insights with me to help me continue to grow professionally and personally, and I in turn share resources with them to help them learn. My PLN: "a vibrant, ever-changing group of connections to which teachers go to both share and learn. These groups reflect our values, passions, and areas of expertise" (Education Week Teacher, December 31, 2014). I would love to add you to my PLN. Join me on Twitter @FriedrichLaurie!

21st Century Skills are as Important as Content

Teachers today need to provide learning opportunities for students to learn 21st-century skills including leadership, digital literacy, problem solving and communication in addition to traditional skills such as reading, writing and arithmetic. Driving the Skills Agenda: Preparing Students for the Future maintains that the skills a student gains through learning are at least as important as the content. To help students develop these necessary 21st century skills teachers must create learning opportunities for students that require them to collaborate, take leadership roles, solve problems, research, and create content using information technologies. Brian Schreuder  further asserts that 21st century skills must be modelled by teachers in order for students to begin to use them on a regular basis. Just as technology must be meaningfully integrated into content, so 21st century skills must be a part of everything we do. Only then will students be prepared to participate in today's global society.

As Guy and I worked with teachers last week in our iPads in the Classroom course we again saw how working with technology can create teacher leaders. It was encouraging to hear a supervisor encourage these teachers that they would be in the top 1% of teachers in ability to integrate technology after taking this course. With encouragement to try new things, support as they implemented them into projects they will actually use in their classroom this fall, ongoing feedback

from peers and instructors, and accountability to accomplish their goals during the course these teachers created amazing projects. All created a professional blog and blogged daily. Everyone created a Twitter account, began following each other and experts in their respective fields, and tweeted out many new insights. Some created e-portfolios to house e-books, screencasts, movies and more. Some created websites while others collaborated to integrate technology into units they will teach. Engagement was high and results demonstrated much professional growth. Not only did these amazing teachers learn how to use technology, they also grew as leaders as they collaboratively solved problems through communication and research. These teachers will join other teachers we have worked with who grew not only in their technology ability but also in their 21st century skills. These teachers model these skills for their students as they teach, lead in their schools and districts, and empower students to implement 21st century skills in meaningful learning projects.

I believe that these 21st century skills are as important as content so I find value in lessons that teach content but add digital literacy skills of searching, evaluating, synthesizing, and communicating multimodally. Ideally these lessons become transformative in the SAMR model, but even if they augment the learning by teaching students affordances of the technology it meets a great need. Our students will need 21st century skills in school, career, and society. As teachers we need to intentionally model and teach these skills as we integrate them into our lessons. It's all about the students' needs!

The Importance of Play!

It's summer! Time to play! Many teachers are celebrating their last day of school this week. Concordia and UNL graduated talented teachers two weeks ago. Our family vacationed in Italy last week, enjoying some play time together!

How do students play over the summer? Bicycles, skateboards, baseball, softball, videogames, and very creative play. The Teaching Channel offers Five Ways to Encourage Summer Reading and Writing so kids don't fall behind when school is out.

How do teachers play over the summer? After you vacation, consider creating a teacher website, or playing with some new apps you might integrate in the fall! I am excited to play with a new Chromebook this summer as teachers get ready for 1:1 Chromebook implementation. Guy and I will help integrate technology into Social Studies for the coming year. We will play with new apps (Apple and Google) as we teach iPads (and Chromebooks) in the Classroom. Check out some Chrome Extensions you may like to use in Google.

This week I was intrigued by research from Henriksen, Mishra and colleagues in the Deep-Play Research Group at Michigan State. In Rethinking Technology and Creativity in the 21st Century  these authors claim that "deep" or "transformational" play is open-ended to inspire creativity. They note that play is voluntary, intrinsically motivating, engages mind and body, and is imaginative. Play is a way we bring understanding to the world. When we work with teachers we always allow them to play with devices and apps to learn how they work and begin to feel comfortable using them. Rather than feeling they must answer every question, teachers can encourage students to play with new devices, apps, or sites themselves. The play process is essential to alleviate fear of breaking devices or feelings of inability when using technology.

So play this summer! Have fun! Grow professionally! Try something new!

How are preservice teachers using technology in the classroom?

I just finished reading literacy practicum teachers' final lesson plans and reflections from this semester, and the many ways they used technology overwhelmed me with joy! These preservice teachers used over 50 technology tools, apps, and websites with children in grades K-5. They used the iPad we required them to get as a teaching tool in ways that empowered their students to use them as a learning tool. Students used iPads, iPods, laptops, and desk tops to create projects across the curriculum: e-books, online research, graphic organizers, formative assessment, poetry videos, vocabulary 4 squares, augmented reality vocabulary videos, and visual demonstrations of learning.

Here are the tech tools they used and recommend. How many of them do you use?

Popplet                  Plickers                 PebbleGo            Prezi                TradingCards
KidBlog                Venn Diagram       AirPlay               YouTube         ReadWriteThink
YouTube               Educreations         Inspiration           ebrainstorm     Google Speech
Storybird               PiktoChart             Kahoot                TeacherTube   StoryboardThat
ShowMe               Google Docs          SeeSaw                email               TouchCast
PuppetEdu            Storyjumper           jump codes          Aurasma          ChatterPix
Google Earth        PowerPoint            Apple TV             Elmo                Kahoot
Wonders               Stopwatch              Calculator            QR Codes        CNN St News
PebbleGo             Dragon Dictation    Haiku Deck          Socrative         GglSafeSearch
Socrative              Symbaloo               Khan Academy     Little Writer    GoNoodle
Quizlet                 ClassroomClipart   Classroom Dojo    ClassManager  EPIC!            

These preservice teachers noted how much they learned this semester about integrating technology in teaching. Here are a few comments that reflect those stated by many:

"I believe it is important for students to know how to use technology because it enables different ways of thinking and learning. For example, it allows for different types of media. For some students, they have complex and detailed ideas in their head, but struggle to find the right words to explain them. Technology allows for incorporation of pictures, video clips, and voice memos. It provides alternative ways of expression and understanding." Julianne,Grade 1

"The students were empowered to use a new piece of technology, the iPad, that they had previously only used for games and not in a classroom setting...This was empowering because the students were able to create their own Venn diagram and other graphic organizers for the first time and in a new and creative way. The students had limited experience with graphic organizers so this review was good scaffolding and helped them learn how to create an extremely helpful text comprehension tool."  Ben, Kindergarten

"It is important for teachers to experiment with the technology before introducing it to the students.  My CT and I made a demonstration video, and had it not been for this, I would have struggled implementing it for the students.  Additionally, we must be flexible when using technology because there is always the possibility for glitches or problems with it.  I also learned that you have to take risks with technology; it may not always work out, but the possible benefits technology has to offer is worth the risk.  It engages students and creates excitement about learning.  I have found that when technology is utilized efficiently, it is a powerful tool that enables rich learning to occur." Julianne, Grade 1

"Students surprise me with how much they know and can do with technology. They love when I bring my iPad or computer out and love using it. This lesson empowered students because it showed them a different way to take notes. We didn’t have to write our notes down but I wanted to, in order to save time for when they recorded their voices. That way they already knew what they were going to say." Morgan, Grade 4

"This class was really helpful to me as a future educator...I used technology to record student’s work or learning and also used it to help them research topics and during math. My favorite way that I was able to incorporate technology was during shared reading. Although it took a lot longer to prepare than other lessons, I was able to use the Show Me app to take pictures of the story we were reading and write down the questions from that page and project it for them to see. This helped keep the students on the right page and it gave them the opportunity to see what questions they should be thinking about before I asked the questions, this way everyone was prepared and given the opportunity to answer a question if I called on them. The most important thing that I learned from this course was not to underestimate what students at a young age are capable of doing. I was very hesitant to get students who are 6 and 7 years old the opportunity to have their own laptop or hold my iPad but they definitely knew a lot more than I thought." Jade, Grade 1

These preservice teachers and their cooperating teachers took risks together and their students benefited. All learned from each other! I can hardly wait to see how these teachers will integrate technology across the curriculum next year, and how you will use it with your students!