Digital Citizenship

Digital Citizenship: appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use, is extremely important to what is happening and will happen with education.  We can no longer ignore or avoid the technology opportunities being presented to our 21st century learners.  As educators we have to find ways to stay current and help our colleagues move forward to meet the technology knowledge our students are bringing to the classroom.  After reading Mike Ribble's article "Nine Themes of Digital Citizenship" (from the Digital Citizenship Using Technology Appropriately website) I have identified two themes to focus on:
1. Digital Access: full electronic participation in society.
~understanding that everyone does not have equal access to technology and how to allow more opportunities for technology use.
5. Digital Etiquette: electronic standards of conduct or procedure.
~understanding that everyone needs to follow digital etiquette and understand how the rules of digital etiquette apply to different situations.

courtesy of :digitalfamilysummit.com

From researching Digital Citizenship through other educational technology sites, I found the most important element to reinforce and teach about is our digital footprint. Which according to technology expert Will Richardson, is an online portfolio of who we are, what we do, and by association, what we know, as defined in the article Digital Speaking / Positive Digital Footprints. This article identifies how we can help everyone create a positive footprint, which benefits all those using the internet and social media outlets at all age levels.

A website designed by Med Kharbach, A Great Guide on Teaching Students~Digital Footprints, illustrates how to help students understand their digital footprint through all their social media and website applications.  The site provides four different videos to share with students, educators and family members to help them understanding and discuss their digital footprint. As I watched the videos, I really wondered how many adults truly understand how they can be tracked by all that they do on a computer.

One solution I believe public institutions could provide to the community, is to offer classes for parents and their children to understand digital citizenship throughout all nine themes identified by Mike Ribble and to help them develop a positive footprint.  Most importantly to reinforce a solid understanding that everything they do now and in the future, will be able to be tracked by employers and universities.  As public institutions we need to inform all the generations how technology does not have to be a negative impact on education and our 21st century learners will be experiencing a different way to learn and share their knowledge with teachers, peers and others across the nation and world.

One additional website I found interesting to explore was The Digital Footprint of 3 Generations, which showed how the boomers, millinnials, and Generation X interacts with the digital world and how each group is leaving different levels of digital footprints.

Michigan Online Learning Requirement for K-12 Students

The Michigan Online Learning Requirements for K-12 Students,and the Companion Document has a descriptive explanation on the technology requirements for those students in grades 6-12. I believe if we start introducing these ideas at the elementary level as whole class projects, then when students get to middle school the teachers can focus on content exploration versus learning how to manipulate the technology. Unfortunately, working at an elementary school I do not have access to training provided to our 6-12 teachers on technology integration and the projects in their curriculum.  I am aware that at the end of each trimester throughout our Middle schools, the 8th grade students in the computer class complete the MET's online assessment.  After exploring our District website I noticed we have links to a Moodle account and Student Webmail for teacher and student access.  

Next year, we will be integrating more technology at the elementary level within our Reading/Literacy blocks, as we have just adopted a new reading curriculum that has multiple technology opportunities through whole class, individual work and home connections.  Each student will receive a login to their account (which will be linked to math and reading) where the teacher can individualize the activities according to the students ability levels.  Teachers will be able to use Smartboard activities to discuss and share the weekly story either in whole group or in small group.  Students will be able to complete literacy work station sessions according to their level and there is even an opportunity for research and exploration according to their interest around the weekly story.  Parents will be able to read the stories at home with their child online and complete comprehension activities to be sent back to the teacher for review.

In a small step we are making technology more accessible for our students and touching on some of the standards highlighted within the MI Online Learning Requirements. After exploring more to find all the PK-12 Michigan Educational Technology Standards I now understand why technology has to be a primary focus with all teachers from PK-12 grade.  There are a lot of skills students need to be able to understand when they get to middle school, and not just starting to explore the skills as they move into 6th grade.  As a teacher leader at the elementary level I need to help teachers integrate and introduce technology to all students across all content areas.

Data Warehousing (DW)-DataWise

Data Warehousing (DW) in our district is driven by the DataWise product from Measured Progress, which is an online, password protected web based "All-in-one classroom assessment platform". The DataWise Platform allows teachers to collect data points, analyse data across assessments, group students according to like ability and/or skills, and to create and administer assessments in line with the Common Core State Standards. Each teacher was provided a login and password to access DataWise, teachers are only able to see students their current students and their previous students, within a building the principle, coach and specials teachers have access to the entire building. DataWise contains data from standardized tests for the past 3 years (ITBS, EdPerformance/Scantron, MEAP, DIBELS). 

As we were developing our School Improvement Plan and analyzing our data, we used DataWise to look at our scores and the trends over the last few years.  Then we were able to disseminate the data according to race, gender, and economical status to complete the SIP's individual reports. In addition to school reports, teachers are able to take their class information and compare one assessment to another and student group to student group within a school year and across multiple school years.

As stated from the Measured Progress website: Measured Progress Partnership press release McREL (a private education research and development corporation that specializes in turning knowledge about what works in education into practical guidance and products for educators) and Measured Progress (who operates on the belief that assessment is more than just a score; it should be a roadmap that gives educators the guidance they need to adjust instruction and improve outcomes for both students and teachers) have developed a partnership to help districts ease the transition for teachers to instruct and assess according to the Common Core State Standards. As this element is explored more with our teachers in the district, our instruction across all content areas will become individualized and targeted to all our students academic needs.

As we have only begun to explore our new Data Warehouse-DataWise with 4 mini training sessions this past year, I am excited to learn more about the various reports and how to develop assessments according to CCSS. This technology advancement will allow our teachers to prepare our students for the new assessments coming in 2014-2015 with hands-on examples and test items in relation to current content.

Internet Evaluation and 21st Century Literacy

After reviewing the Critical Evaluation of a Website by Kathy Schrock, I was surprised at how much I did not have any idea what the evaluation was talking about, or where to look to find the information within a website. The evaluation was very overwhelming because of all the technical information and how little I know about the mechanics of a website. This was a huge eye opener to me about what we are asking our students to do at school and what they can be exposed to, because I do not currently have the knowledge to know what makes a good vs. bad website. Asking students to explore the web to find information has always been a concern for me because of how easy it is to find inappropriate information, I now have another worry that students can find inaccurate information that is presented to be believable.

I know that in different ways students are skilled at searching the Internet, because when our district has blocked various websites (gaming, radio stations, videos, facebook) they are able to maneuver through other sites to get to the site that is blocked.  But when teachers assign specific searchers to find information the students type in their search and take the first 2-3 sites that come up and go with the information there to find what they need.  I have also watched my 5th grade daughter search the web for information and stay at one site the entire time to get all the information she needed, without cross checking it to see if the information matched other sites.   

To meet the 21st Century Technology Literacy Skills educators and administrators need to become knowledgeable about the design, organization and reliability of the web.  We need to have more (yes I said more) Professional Development on the use and implementation of technology across the grades, the most beneficial PD is where teachers have computers in front of them completing the tasks as they complete the course.  After seeing my limited knowledge, and knowing what the Common Core Standards are expecting in the areas of research and technology, schools have to rethink what teachers need to successfully met the standards and to stay current with what their students know and are able to do.  

Reflection on IES What Works Clearinghouse

As I explored the IES What Works Clearinghouse I had a tough time staying in just one topic area to explore the research.  As I explored the different sections I felt justified in seeing that the strategies we have been using at our school have made the list and are considered to have effective results.  Other strategies I read about are strategies that can be implemented without “buying” a program, or having to obtain training and resources to begin an intervention known to make academic gains.  4 interventions I read about were from the English Language Learners section, the Literacy section, the Early Childhood Education section, and the Student Behavior topic areas, the interventions can be modified to span all abilities and several grade levels for literacy and math achievement.  The interventions included Interactive Shared Book Reading, Instructional Conversations and Literature Logs, Project CRISS, and Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary School Classroom through Character Education.  As part of our School Improvement Plan we are focusing on providing a common strategy to use with all our tutors throughout the building, these interventions are easy to implement and will be easy to share in a basic training session.  

Strategies that were a surprise from John Hattie's research on "Teaching and Learning Strategies"

Within the School Effect rankings I noticed an interesting ranking of classroom controlled effects vs. out of classroom effects.  An element that has been a struggle in my building recently is how the principal is expected to manage, control and direct classroom behavior throughout the whole building and in every classroom.  I found the rankings interesting that the school leader and/or principal ranks lower than overall effect of classroom behavior and classroom management, which is a control of the teacher in the classroom.  The numerous guests throughout the last few months, to the Teacher Leadership Academy, have indicated that everyone in the building needs to take ownership for all the students in the building and be part of the development of all the skills.  The behavior cannot just be one person’s initiative, everyone has to agree and enforce the expectations in all areas, at all times.

Another area I found to be interesting within the Teaching and Learning ranking was how low inquiry based teaching was on the list, but questioning (which is a large element of inquiry) was so much higher on the list.  It would be interested to explore the definition and explanation of Hattie’s idea of inquiry based teaching in comparison to the work recently published by Harvey and Daniels in Comprehension and Collaboration.  Our school completed a book study on this book and the research throughout the book indicated how beneficial inquiry is to engage students and to expand their prior knowledge. 

The research findings would be interesting to give to our staff and have them rank the building on what they believe is the effective means toward student achievement.  Then compare the rankings to Hattie’s list and see where we have discrepancies in our understanding, then plan our yearly PD in reference to what has proven to be effective teaching and learning strategies that improve student achievement. 

UDL~Universal Design for Learning

Universal Design for Learning Guidelines

© 2011 by CAST. All rights reserved. www.cast.org, www.udlcenter.org

APA Citation: CAST (20011). Universal design for learning guidelines version 2.0. Wake eld, MA: Author.

                   When Teachers:                                              Students will be:
1.  Provide Multiple Means of Representation---Resourceful, knowledgeable learners
2.  Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression---Strategic, goal-directed learners
3.  Provide Multiple means of Engagement---Purposeful, motivated learners

My thoughts on Universal Design for Learning center around the 3 Guidelines(as listed above) established to allow equal access for all students to a district's approved curriculum.  As I read the current reports on the  upcoming Common Core Assessments and that Performance Based Assessments will incorporate a large portion of the assessment, classroom instruction will need to be viewed in a different way. I believe that as instructional leaders, we need to help teachers look at lesson planning and delivery in a new light.  Student interactions will need to be very intentional and purposeful in all areas across the content areas.  I see the Universal Design for Learning framework as a wonderful tool to help teachers, principals, and instructional leaders in making the switch to providing instruction that is rigorous and engaging for all students. 

When teachers provided and allow students to understand their learning through multiple means of representation, we are allowing the students to learn through their strongest learning styles.  We know from years of research that students primarily learn visually, auditory or kinestheticly, by presenting information in these and other ways we are able to help students increase their depth of knowledge across all content areas.  When students are expected to be involved in their learning, through their conversations and actions, students are more engaged because they are accountable for their learning through their classmates interactions.  Student's high levels of engagement, deter off task behavior because the learning is meaningful, purposeful and the students have helped direct and guide their learning though personal inquiry and interest.

When teachers begin unit planning with the end results in mind, the planning is intentional because the students prior knowledge, struggles and roadblocks can be identified.  Backwards planning allows a teachers to map out their unit with stopping points for further research and inquiry, time for re-teaching or deeper investigating and mid-unit assessment of growth and understanding.  When teachers know the goals or standards the students need to be able demonstrate by the end of a unit, a teacher can incorporate stages of knowledge development that continue to deepen their knowledge throughout the unit to have a solid vs. surface level understanding of the material.  

As I learn more about Universal Design for Learning and compare the framework to the PLC framework I am excited to see how the two ideas can mesh together nicely to support and educate all our learners.  We have worked with PLC teams a great deal in the last few years at our school, I see Universal Design for Learning as our next step in continuing to improve our student achievement.  

Do we really need technology in the classroom?

Today,  I learned a little about my schools wireless setup.  Our school was one of the first elementary schools to be wireless, but now our wiring is out dated so the new lap top computers that staff are assigned are not able to work with the old system.  This is absolutely baffling to learn.  We have the capability to use new and updated technology, but we are not able to keep up with technology trends because of funding issues.   So with that understanding, I would like to share my thoughts on technology in the 21st century classroom.  I believe technology is an absolute must for all elementary, middle, and high school classrooms.  With schools being so limited on resources because of funding, technology is a way to bring the outside world into the lives and provide unique experiences for our students.  Technology can make a picture or story selection come alive with sounds, in-depth facts, and interactive experiences.  As I am a part of the committee working on organizing, introducing and implementing a new reading series for our district, I am reminded how technology can supplement and enhance the knowledge base of our students.  Every week the reading series provides multiple opportunities for students to interact with the text on a computer at home or at school.  The element I believe the teachers will enjoy, is the research and inquiry online option for students to work on independently throughout the week.  This option ties directly into the Common Core Standards of Writing.  So, my job in the fall will be to present the benefits of using technology to help build the students depth of knowledge, within and across the content areas in relation to the stories and topics within our new reading series.  So, back to my first thought on our out dated wireless wiring (and several buildings not being wireless, yet)  I believe if we want to promote a learner-centered technology environment, we need to make technology improvements a priority across our schools, communities and with our local representatives.  

Visionary Leadership-Staying Organized

I am excited to explore how the "Delicious" website can help me organize and track my various bookmarks from my school to my home computer.  I know I have a great deal of bookmarks on my school computer that I need to clean-up and tag according to the different content areas and support areas.  I hope that with exploring the "Delicious" options I can take what I already have on both computers and make one list in simple, easy steps.  

I have just started to use the Google Calendar option, which is basic and I need to play around with the options to see how to link my email notes and calendar to the Google =Calendar.  Hopefully, down the road I can figure out how to send the calendar reminders to my families phones, so I don't have to write our weekly schedule down in multiple different areas every week.  As I am working on different committees the calender will help with organization of meetings and deadlines for completing work.

What can I do to be a visionary leader?

As I review the NETS (National Education Technology Standards) standard in the area of Visionary Leadership, I see a significant difference from my schooling, to how my daughters and the next generations will be educated.  The first subcategory ~a. inspire and facilitate~ I see this becoming apart of our school through our new data entry and reporting system: DataWise.  By working with the teachers to use the pre/post test analysis in DataWise, our teachers will be able to teach to the specific and unique needs of the students across content areas.  I see technology as a tool for teachers to use their own inquiry to explore topics in relation to curriculum, and then to take those exploration opportunities to the classroom for their students to develop and share what they have learned with their peers.  In reviewing the next subcategory~b. engage in an ongoing process to develop, implement, and communicate technology-infused strategic plans aligned with a shared vision~I believe blogging and sharing documents through Google documents will make teaching more interactive in and out of school and sharing documents will allow more collaboration between teachers.  When teachers have a strong understanding of their School Improvement Goals and can articulate them across their content areas the depth of knowledge the teachers and students will gain will be amazing. When everyone in a school has the same goals and focus, the movement forward is so much stronger than everyone focusing on individual goals and expectations. Finally in reviewing the last subcategory ~c. advocate on local, state, and national levels for policies, programs, and funding to support implementation of a technology-infused vision and strategic plan~  I believe and have heard several times over that teachers do not do enough to promote and advertise the goodness that is happening with in our schools and classrooms.  So to support this last subcategory, we as teachers need to publish more class and school focused websites that are interactive for our students, families and communities.  We need to let our representative know how things are and are not working within our schools according our budgets and resources they have provided for us.  We need to share our real life statistics of our scores and our classroom demographics, which will help the representatives understand what we are experiencing everyday in the classroom.  As previous discussions within the TLA, information was shared that if business' want to change the new hires coming in,  then the business' and the community have to work with the school systems to map out what the new hires need to bring with them from school to have a success career.  I see community and school partnerships as a key element in developing all the learners going into the 21st century.  These standards will encourage a variety of new ways to research, develop and deliver the curriculum to all our future students coming through our classrooms.

Leadership Theory and Instructional Leadership Tools

I am excited to explore the website http://www.grantwrangler.com/ for programs and grants to support our School Improvement goals. Our budget is always limited in how we are able to support the teachers knowledge development, hopefully through the grant opportunities we will be able to offer a variety of book study options to help teachers in the areas of reading, math, writing instruction. Also as the Secretary of our local Reading Council, one of my responsibilities on the Executive Board is to provide information to the members on available grant opportunities. This website will provide a basic resource to begin collecting information to share with the council members.

As I explored the resources incorporated within the Instructional Leadership tools I came across the following book: Leading Strategic Change: Breaking Through the Brain Barrier by Black & Gregersen, 2002.  In support of our change project within the TLA, I am very interested in what ideas this book has to offer in helping with redefining a culture in a building.  My change project deals with using a new technology data base focusing on student progress and instruction. The ideas presented within this book would help me work through the barriers of change and to help the me help the others see the usefulness of the technology and how the data program will benefit instruction through pinpointing the needs of the students.

My vision for my school

“If I ran our school system...”

Students will have technology devices

 (laptops, Ipads, phones, internet, digital cameras,                      

smart boards, printers, projectors and Skype)

AVAILABLE EVERYDAY, ALL DAY. 

Students will continue to focus on Literacy, Mathematics, Writing, Science, Social Studies, Arts, Music and Healthy Living/Recreation to understand how all these areas apply to life outside of school and beyond.   In a time when students can connect to the world through unlimited access, I need to provide a window to all that is available.

At times, I may not be the only teacher in the “room”. 

At times we may be watching, listening, and observing real life situations through Skype from a business or in another classroom across the wires.

The “teachers” will be young and old, where students and teachers can experience the many opportunities to reach out and explore the world.  

The students, no matter what age, 

will always need teachers to direct, 

encourage, guide, push, challenge, 

question and validate their learning, 

so they can continue to reach a 

deeper understanding in all content 

areas.  Assessments will be delivered 

through standards based assessments, 

calculating accomplishment of a 

standard by an online data 

management collection system.  

Teachers, parents and students will have 

continuous access to student progress, 

assignments and resources which support their continuous growth and learning. My school will be technology literate and reach all styles of learners and 

all learners will continuously work through the Taxonomy for Thinking daily or weekly in multiple content areas.

TLA TAL – Getting Started #2

Blogs are good when they provided helpful information to the reader.  A blog can be a journal of thoughts, a list of ideas commonly shared by others around a familiar topic.  Across the different blogs I have read the authors opinions and thoughts are what drive the information from post to post.  As a new member to blogging, I am still developing an understanding of what should be in a blog and what is the useful information that others would want to read in a blog. 

I can see blogs enhancing a teacher's school web presence by allowing teachers and students to share their analysis of material across multiple day discussions.  Teaching teams can comment on books they are reading in relation to strategies or assessments they are using in the classroom.  When teachers reflect on a lesson, it is typically on their way home or in the evening when they have had a opportunity to step away from the hustle and bustle of the school day, which means that they are not right next to their teaching partner to be able to bounce ideas and talk through new ideas, where blogs can be a wonderful tool for reflection.  When they have a chance to share the information across a blog teachers can deepen their knowledge by writing, reading and responding to their peers comments and insights.  Teachers and students can start a conversation in the classroom and the students analysis and justification of ideas can be expanded and developed across several days on a blog.

I believe blogs are a way for people to self-publish.  Self-publishing needs to be thought out as to what they want others to know and understand about the publisher.  Since blogs can be so public and feeds can pick up topics within the blogs there has to be caution as to how information is shared and what information is shared.  Everywhere you look on business websites, if you do a topic search, or throughout various random websites blogs are part of what is listed as their options for following staying connected or sharing information.  So, yes I believe blogs are an easier way  for people to self-publish, and through that all publishers are making their digital footprint by what they share.

TLA TAL – Getting Started

Welcome!
As part of the Kent ISD Teacher Leadership Academy, this summer I will be participating in the Teacher as Learner online course. As I completed my end of the year Teacher Evaluation, I noticed that every domain referred to technology and enhancing curriculum instruction with technology.  Over the years, I believe I have kept up with the changing elements of technology, but I have not done enough to "enhance" and expand my students and colleagues knowledge of integrating technology effectively into the curriculum.  I am excited to have an opportunity to explore the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers/Administrators, where I will have the opportunity to experiment with technology. Throughout these summer sessions of exploration, I hope to gain the knowledge to help bring our teachers and our students into a technology rich, college going culture.

Angela K